Supernova (Avengers X-Reader)
by SociopathicAngel
Summary: You are an orphan living on the streets of New York City, until Hydra, a terrorist organization, kidnaps you. A couple years later, they have turned you into a killing machine with the real you trapped inside your own mind. During a raid on your base, the Avengers rescue you, but can you help them, and gain their trust? Can they become the family that you've never had?
1. Captured

ch 1

They intrigued you. Families, that is, seeing as you had never had one. You ponder them as you walk down the street, picking a pocket here, avoiding someone else's gaze there. Seeing someone dump a half-eaten hotdog in a trash can, you quickly fish it out. Stopping inside a doorway to eat your prize, you savor the feeling of food in your stomach. It isn't exactly hard to find food in New York, but it's often moldy or bug infested, making it inedible. This hotdog is even still a bit warm, making it extra-special.

Staring out of your alcove, you watch two little girls skip past with their parents following close behind. You smile at them, a bit sad as you wonder what it might be like to have a mother and father. Your mother, a woman named Clara, had dropped you off at the orphanage when you were barely two months old, unable to care for you. The only thing that she left you was a photo of her and some deep-seated abandonment issues. You were the product of a one-night-stand, so you don't know the name of your father.

You might have had a chance to get a new mother and father, but no one had ever wanted to adopt you and as you grew older and older, potential parents looked at you less and less. Maybe it was because of the bruises, or maybe the scar that stretched from your ear to the corner of your mouth. No one wants an imperfect child.

You had always been a bright and inquisitive child, fascinated by the workings of the world. You often studied how light and sound waves worked, or how plants grew or people digested their food. You always had your nose in a book or your head in the clouds and the other girls loved to make fun of you for it. A bathroom beating was not uncommon and your bullies loved to attack you just before people came to meet you. Again, no one wants an imperfect child, especially one that seems to like to fight and cause trouble.

One day a girl named Sydney took it too far and attacked you with a small pocket knife, leaving a serious cut on your face. You were able to fight her off and knock her out by slamming her into the wall repeatedly. When the headmistress found out, she was furious. Bruises, she would tolerate, but that knife could have killed you and she wasn't willing to deal with the legal issues or the bad press that comes with them. Sydney was sent to a special facility for "troubled youths" and never came back.

At first you were relieved that at least one of your enemies was gone, but you soon realized that it didn't matter. You still had as many tormentors as ever and they blamed you for what happened to Sydney. It wasn't long after that day that you found that you couldn't take the bullying anymore. You were tired of being scared all the time, so you decided to escape. One night, you snuck out of your dormitory's window with only the clothes on your back. Luckily, your dorm was on the first floor, so you didn't have far to drop. You ran into the city, taking refuge in a back alley until morning. You were 16 then. Now, two years later, you're still living a dangerous, but free, life on the streets.

Car horns blare as a taxi runs a red light, snapping you out of your reverie. Glancing at a passing man's watch, you realize that it's getting late and you should probably start heading back to the alley that you call home. You spend your nights there on a pile of clothes that had been thrown away by a nearby thrift store. During the day, you venture out, scrounge for food, and basically just explore and watch the world around you. Sometimes, you even catch a rare glimpse of one of the avengers moving toward the sounds of police sirens.

On your way back to your alley, you can't shake the feeling that you're being watched. You keep getting a prickly feeling on the back of your neck, but every time you whip around to look behind you, you can't spot anything suspicious.

"You're being paranoid, _ ," you mutter to yourself.

After an hour of walking, glancing about, and basically just looking like a lunatic, you finally duck into your alley. You curl up on your pile of fabric and pull out your mother's photo. You had memorized her smiling face over the years, but even so, you could not stop studying the photo. She was lying on a hospital bed with a swaddled, screaming baby version of you. Looking into her eyes, you try for the millionth time to figure out what kind of person she would be. You had already decided that she was probably a very happy person, judging by her smile, but there was so much more that you would never be able to figure out. Did she prefer action movies or rom-coms? Was she smart? Athletic? Shy? Boisterous? Funny? Why did she have to leave you? Was it because she couldn't support and care for you or because she didn't love you? No, it had to be the first reason, otherwise she wouldn't be smiling in the picture. She must have not realized that fact before they took it.

This is why you hated your father sometimes. He left your mother pregnant and alone. If he had only taken care of her, if he had treated her as more than a one-night-stand, you might have had a family, might have not been so alone. He was the reason that she had to give you up.

You sigh, realizing that these thoughts would only serve to torment and anger your weary mind. Tucking the photo into your pocket, you pull a blanket over yourself and, after taking one last cautious look around, fall into an uneasy sleep.

A few hours later, you're suddenly awake. You lie still, listening for what could have woken you up so suddenly. Hearing nothing but the normal street noises of a sleeping New York City, you settle back down into your nest.

Then, all of a sudden, several pairs of hands are roughly dragging you from your bed. You kick and scream, calling for help that you know will never arrive in time. One of your attackers finally manages to stick you with a needle. You stiffen up for a second, then fall limp, unable to move. You slip into unconsciousness as they drag you into their van, but not before you spot the logo on one of their chests. You know that symbol. You've seen it on countless flyers and news shows, warning you of how dangerous they were and what they were capable of. You can only imagine what they will do to you, what kind of experiments and tests they'll run. Before you succumb to darkness, one word flashes through your panic-filled mind.

 _Hydra._


	2. Controlled

ch 2

You wake up on a cold metal table, staring up into a harsh, surprisingly bright light. Your arms, legs, and chest are strapped down, effectively immobilizing you. Looking down, you see that your clothes are gone, replaced by a hospital gown. Where are your clothes? Where's _your mother's picture_?

You struggle against your bonds, confused as to when and how you got there. Weren't you just in your alley? Then you remember.

Hydra.

You strain even harder, desperate to escape the table and the fate it entails. You'll be experimented on and tortured and every day will be a struggle to survive their tests.

But it isn't just that. You know that if they have you, there's a good chance that they want to turn you into a weapon. You don't want to harm anyone. You don't want to _kill_ anyone. You don't want to take away anyone else's family. Knowing how lonely you feel, you can only imagine how someone else feels when they actually _knew_ their parents, had actually experienced what having a family feels like.

After struggling a bit more, all you gain is a sense of defeat and some nasty abrasions on your wrists. You finally take the time to look around the room and take in your surroundings. The table that you're strapped to is in the middle of a medium-sized room. Along one wall is a large mirror, which you assume is two-way. They're probably laughing at you right now.

Aside from your table, the mirror, and a door across from it, the room is bare except for a tray of sharp implements and empty syringes in the corner and some machinery along the wall behind your head. This must be either an operating room or a torture room. _Great._

You smile a bit, happy that you at least still have your wit.

The door opens and a man in a lab coat walks in. He has short, brown hair and a beak-like nose. His pupils seem to take up his entire eyes and you cannot distinguish them from his irises. The effect of that combined with his nose is positively terrifying. He seems to barely even be human.

"Hello, _. My name is Dr. Hollow, I'll be taking care of you."

"How do you know my name?"

"We've been monitoring you for quite some time. Would you like to know why?" You nod as best you can. "Well, we believe that you could help me and my organization."

"By 'your organization', you mean Hydra, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"And how could I possibly help you?" You know that you can't escape, so you might as well figure out what exactly it is that they want with you.

Dr. Hollow begins pacing around the room, checking your restraints and preparing equipment. "A few years ago, Hydra began experimenting with a certain gene. You may have heard of it. It's called the x-gene." Your eyes widen. "Ah, so you have heard of it. We started a program called Project Evolve, the purpose of which is to create a mutant soldier that could rival the mightiest Avenger. That soldier could, eventually, be you."

"What makes you think that I'll cooperate?" You refuse to show any fear. Not to this man.

"Oh, you will. We have our methods. Anyways, you may be wondering why, out of all the people in the world, we picked you. We certainly had more… compliant choices."

"You could say that."

"When we started Project Evolve, we developed a machine that could detect the x-gene. Unfortunately, this device only works if the person harboring the gene is less than 50 meters away from it. On one of our regular sweeps of the city, we finally found what we were looking for: someone who contains the gene, but would not be missed if we were to take them. We don't need any unwanted attention from authorities. The person that we found was you."

"Wait, you're saying that I'm a mutant? Believe me, I've had plenty of stress in my life, meaning that my powers have had plenty of opportunities to pop up. Why haven't they done so by now?"

"Well, you see, your powers, for one reason or another, need a little bit more of a push than others. That's where we come in. We're going to give your powers," he picks up a syringe from the tray in the corner," a little _push_." He gives the needle a little flick to emphasize the last word, then turns and plunges it into your arm. You only have enough time to flinch before you black out. _Again._

 **Two Years Later**

You walk into the briefing room with your usually soldier-like march. Oh, how you hate that march. You survey the room, taking in the usual oval-shaped table and viewing screens along the wall. Seeing Dr. Hollow, you snap to attention.

"Hello, _, at ease. Have a seat." Pulling out a chair, you sit down and take up a rigid and uncomfortable posture. You hate it when you do that as well.

"We have another assignment for you."

You nod. _Well duh, why else would you call me down here, freak._ In your mind, you smile. You love mentally abusing him, even though he'll never be able to hear you say these things out loud. The chip that they put in your brain keeps that from happening.

The chip allows them to control you, make you do whatever they say. It makes you use your powers for evil. What they don't realize is that they haven't erased you, the real you. You're still inside your mind, sort of like a spectator, forced to watch the endless movie of your life, never able to do or say anything unless they allow it.

The day after your first encounter (or maybe it was weeks or half a year after, seeing as you don't know how long they kept you under) with Dr. Hollow, you woke up and found that you weren't able to control your own body. At first, you panicked, but after a while, you got used to it. Of course, being used to it didn't mean that you didn't have nightmares about it. At least once a week, you'll have a dream where you're killing someone and you're unable to stop or look away. Sometimes it isn't a dream.

In addition to not being able to control your body, you began to develop abilities. You found that you were able to control light and sound. At one point, you were put in a room with another two-way mirror and your chip was turned off. There was a speaker in the corner, which Dr. Hollow began talking through, telling you that you could practice your powers in this room and hone them to perfection.

You promptly destroyed the speaker with a laser that came out of the palm of your right hand. You tried it again with the mirror, but it was immune to your attacks. You forget what you screamed at them, as well as what you did in your rage, but you calmed down after you realized that you would never be able to escape from that room.

Through some experimentation, you found that you could do some very interesting things with your powers. In addition to being able to produce lasers, you found that you could create illusions, scream at extremely high frequencies, make your voice sound like anyone else's, and make yourself invisible by bending the light around you. You also found that if you concentrated, you could sense the light and sound waves around you and manipulate them. Unfortunately, none of these new abilities made the room any weaker or more escapable and the chip was soon operational once again.

Turning your attention back to Dr. Hollow, you listen as he outlines a plan of attack on a Shield facility. Anything that your missed while reminiscing would have been picked up by the chip. All of a sudden, alarms start blaring throughout the building. A startled and slightly panicked looking Dr. Hollow pulls up the security feed on one of the monitors. You watch in awe as the screen shows a mere 6 people fighting their way through the base's entire security force.

Dr. Hollow whispers, "The Avengers," in a slightly angry voice. On the inside you grin, thinking that you finally might be freed, but then grow sad as you realize that you're either going to kill all of them or they're going to kill you. You would much prefer the latter option, as you would rather the world be rid of you than have it loose some of it's mightiest heroes.

On the outside, you turn to Dr. Hollow, waiting for his instructions.

"Go, defend the compound. As long as they are here, your job is to kill them. If they leave, let them go. We'll get the runaways another day."

You nod and run out of the room toward the sounds of fighting. As you sprint through the halls, pushing scientists out of your way, all you can think is _Please, please let them kill me before anyone gets hurt._


	3. Saved

ch 3

You burst through the doors at the end of the hall, right into a scene of pure chaos. The avengers are fighting in the main loading dock where the base unloads supplies of weapons and ammo. The room has a very high ceiling and is big enough to accommodate a large scale fight, but the walls are still taking a heavy beating. If this doesn't stop soon, the whole room could come down on your heads.

Ducking to avoid a screaming guard as he flies over you, you immediately join the fray. You go after Thor first, as his lightning seems to be doing the most damage to both the security force and the building. You send a supersonic scream at him, then a few lasers, but he easily deflects the lasers and is only mildly fazed by your cry.

Out of the corner of your eye, you can see the other Avengers flinch and glance towards Thor, but are soon occupied once more with their own battles. The guards are not fazed by your scream, as they have all been given special earplugs to protect against it.

Thor's counterattack comes quickly. He raises his hammer, preparing to strike you with lightning, but you immediately make yourself invisible. He stands there, confused by your sudden disappearance.

Slowly, you start making your way around towards his back, intending to surprise him, but you are interrupted by a blast from Iron Man.

"Tricks like that won't work on my scanners, babe!", he yells before knocking over Hydra agents like bowling pins.

Lasers don't phase you as much as other people, so you are only knocked down instead of being flung across the room. Despite being less fatal, it still breaks your concentration and Thor is able to knock your now visible body into the wall with a bolt of lightning.

"Ow, that really freaking…" Wait. You can talk. You were actually speaking and talking with your own voice. Thor, who had been advancing towards you, stops and watches you warily as he notices the look of amazement on your face.

Realizing your opportunity, you yell out, "They were controlling me! I don't know when the chip will kick in again, but you have to kill me! If you don't, I won't be able to stop and…" The chip takes control again and Thor gets ready to attack you, wiping the surprised look off of his face. You push off the wall and fly at Thor, only to be intercepted by a shield to the head from Captain America. You stagger to your feet, marveling at how much more powerful these people are than the normal people that you are usually tasked with fighting.

 _Good_ , you think, _they won't be as easy to defeat._

Looking around, you see the Hulk dispatching the remainder of the guards. The rest of the Avengers have formed a circle around you, watching you carefully. You slowly turn and you can feel the chip weighing the options.

"Who is she? Another Hydra agent?", Captain America asks.

"Yeah, with upgrades," Iron Man answers, "I saw her disappear into thin air in the middle of the fight, had to use my scanners to find her. She was _manipulating_ the light."

"A mutant," Hawkeye hypothesizes, "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's take her down before-"

Thor interrupts him with a shake of his head, earning confused looks from his comrades. "She might not mean us any real harm, my friends. She declared that she was being controlled. Do not harm her, but do be very cautious and-"

The chip chooses that moment to attack.

 _Great, good job Thor, now they might pull their punches. More pain for them!_ Even as you think those sarcastic words, you can't help but worry about what you might do to them.

You send your lasers at Black Widow, as she would be the most susceptible to them, but Cap deflects them with his shield. A split second later, you receive an arrow to the shoulder for your troubles. Bellowing in pain, you pull out the arrow and create the illusion that there are five more of you. You send them all charging at the Avengers, causing enough confusion to slip out of their grasp.

From behind you comes a terrifying roar and you turn to see a very angry hulk charging in your direction. You send a supersonic scream at him and disappear, running around to his back and shoot a few lasers at his shoulder blades. The rest of the Avengers join the fray, and suddenly you're on the defense, dodging lasers, arrows, and bullets.

Deflecting Cap's shield, you send a shockwave through the air, knocking a flying Iron Man into the wall and pushing everyone back. The Hulk charges you and as you jump up and launch off of his shoulder, Black Widow comes out of nowhere and tackles you to the ground, giving you a big shock with her widow bites. You feel the chip's hold on you weaken, so you seize your chance, sending a shockwave at your own skull to knock yourself out.

 **Avengers' Perspective**

She goes limp underneath Natasha and they all stare, waiting for her to pull another trick.

"She's not playing dead," Nat says, "I felt her whole body shake. It kind of felt like an earthquake." Her look of confusion is mirrored on everyone else's faces, including the Hulk's.

"Jarvis, scan the girl, check for any brain activity."

"She appears to be out cold, sir, but I am picking up some fractures in her skull that were not there earlier on in our fight."

A look of understanding crosses Thor's face and they all wait for him to explain.

"When she first arrived, we engaged in combat. My lightning struck her and a change seemed to occur. She warned of something controlling her, and it soon seemed to take over once more. Lady Romanov's wrist lightning must have triggered a loosening of her controller's hold, just as mine did."

"Then, could it be possible that she caused those injuries to herself? She's certainly capable," Clint mutters.

They all look down at the girl at their feet, trying to decide what to do with her.

Jarvis speaks into the thoughtful silence, "Sir, upon further scans, I have also found what appears to be a computer chip embedded in her brain."

"That might be what was controlling her," says Steve. He looks at her in pity, then feels a rush of anger. They had controlled her, made her do their dirty work, just as they had controlled Bucky. Who knew what they had put her through? In a split second, his mind was made up.

"Natasha, go get Bruce changed back. He won't be any use in those hallways. They're too small. Thor, go get the girl loaded into the jet. Clint, come with me. We'll search the compound for any more-"

"Um, excuse me?", Tony interrupts, "We're just going to bring the super powered terrorist back with us? What, has the years of being frozen in ice finally gotten to your brain?"

"It seems like she was being controlled, Stark. While we're finding out who she is and why that chip is in her brain, we can keep her in the tower and give her medical attention for those fractures and the arrow wound. We'll keep a close eye on her and keep her knocked out until we can put a device on her to inhibit her powers, so it's not like she'll be able to cause any trouble."

"Fine, but I reserve the right to say 'I told you so' when she turns on us."

Steve sighs. "Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that." He finishes giving out orders and leads Clint into the compound, glancing at the girl once more before he leaves.

Behind him, Tony watches as Thor gently lifts the mutant and begins carrying her to the jet.

"Oh, this is _not_ going to end well."

 **A Few Days Later**

Your eyes blink open and you immediately become confused. You are lying in a bed in what looks like a guest room, not on a cot in a cell, which is what you're used to. There are a few paintings on the walls and curtains covering what could be a floor-to-ceiling window.

So, you're not in the compound, it didn't have windows. The only familiar thing in the room is a security camera in one corner of the ceiling, although it's a bit more high tech than the one in your old cell.

You're in a hospital gown, just like when you were first kidnapped, although you aren't strapped down this time. The arrow wound and your head is bandaged and on your wrists are cuffs that go halfway up your forearm. They seem to glow a faint blue.

You try to shoot the left one off with a laser from your right hand, but find that you can't use your powers. You try a few more things, but nothing seems to work. Oh well, this will keep the chip from making you hurt whoever took you here, whether it be the Avengers or someone else.

You can't seem to shake the feeling that something is amiss. You absentmindedly reach up to feel the bandage on your head, and that's when you realize what's missing. You can't feel any of the chip's influence anywhere.

You wait a few minutes for the chip to kick in, thinking that it must be a malfunction, but it never does. Whoever brought you here must have disabled it. You grin, reveling in your newfound, if possibly temporary, freedom.

"Fuck Hydra," you say, laughing a little bit. You've been wanting to say that for two whole years.

The door to your room opens, making you jump a bit, and a man in sweatpants and a sweatshirt walks in. Yep, definitely not Hydra.

"Hello," he says, "Are you feeling better?"

"Um… yeah, sure. I don't mean to be rude, but where am I? And who are you? How did you disable the chip? Why-"

He holds up his hands, chuckling, "Just a minute, one question at a time. You're in Stark Tower. My name is Dr. Banner, but you can call me Bruce, if you'd like."

 _So, this is the guy that can turn into the Hulk. Interesting._

As for the chip, we were actually able to remove it."

You stare at him in amazement. Disable, yes, but completely remove? "But how? It was a good ways into my brain, I know that much. To remove it would probably have meant killing me."

Dr. Banner's brow furrows. "Well, there were some close calls, but I made sure that Tony hired the best surgeons in the country. Hydra can't control you anymore." He gives you a small, kind smile.

To your utter embarrassment, you start to cry. You're free. You'll never have to kill anyone ever again. Dr. Banner walks over awkwardly and pats your shoulder. You look up and smile at him.

"Thank you," you choke out, "but why did you do it? I attacked you. I've _killed_ people."

"You'll have to ask Steve that. He was the one who made the decision to bring you here. Personally, I think that if you were a real Hydra agent, you wouldn't have needed the chip. Steve seems to share in that belief, but some of my teammates think differently. You've healed enough that I'll be able to introduce you to everyone tomorrow, but for now I would suggest getting some rest."

You nod and Dr. Banner turns to leave, but stops with his hand on the doorknob. Turning back to you, he asks, "By the way, what's your name?"

You have to think for a second. It's been so long since you were called by a name and not the number that Hydra had assigned you. "My name is _."

Dr. Banner nods and leaves you to your thoughts, closing the door behind him.

You stretch out on the bed and pull the covers up over yourself, enjoying the feeling of not being in a stiff position for once in your life.

"Fuck Hydra," you mumble one more time before falling into a dreamless sleep.

 **Avengers' Perspective**

In another room, Steve, Nat, Clint, and Thor stand around a security monitor with Tony leaning against a wall behind them. A faint "Fuck Hydra" comes through the speaker and Thor chuckles.

"She is a humorous Midgardian. I like her."

Bruce enters the room. "I agree. She's been through a lot. The mere fact that she hasn't gone insane after who knows how many years of not being able to control her own body shows how strong she is."

"I don't know," says Clint, "I mean, I know she's strong, but I'm with Stark on this one for now. I don't trust her. You don't just get released from Hydra and instantly forget all of your murderous ways. I get that the chip was controlling her, but who knows? She might have acquired a taste for blood while it was in there."

"Finally, someone with a brain," Tony says triumphantly from his slouched position against the wall.

"Hmm… _," Nat mumbles. "Jarvis, can you search that name on all known databases?"

"There is only one _ in the city that matches the girl's description. She was in Saint Paul's Children's Home for Girls up until four years ago. It doesn't say anything about adoption, but all record of her after that stop."

"That must be when Hydra grabbed her," says Clint.

"But the information that we got from the chip indicates that she's only had it in for two years," Steve contradicts with a small frown. "Either Hydra held her captive for two years before they took control of her or there was a glitch in the system and she was actually adopted. We can ask her about it tomorrow."

"Yeah, let's have a little chat with the terrorist. It's not as if she'd _lie_ to us about her past, now would she?", Tony mumbles as he rolls his eyes.

Steve ignores him. "Alright, everyone, I'd suggest that you all get some rest as well. We have an interesting day ahead of us."

They all head towards their respective beds (or, in Tony's case, towards his lab), leaving behind a room that is quiet except for the faint sound of snoring filtering in through the speakers.


	4. Introduced

Ch 4

You slowly open your eyes and sit up. You stretch and for once, you are completely at peace and happy. You don't have to worry about what assignment Hydra will give you that day, nor where your next meal will come from. For once, you are safe and your only worry is convincing the Avengers that you are harmless.

You swing your feet over the side of the bed and stand up, making sure that you don't jar your injured shoulder. Walking over to the window, you pull back the curtain and take in the view. Far below you are a crisscross of streets that cut through the forest of sky scrapers. It almost looks like someone pushed a huge piece of chicken wire into the ground. You can see people walking along the sidewalks, but they're so tiny, they might as well be ants.

You scan the streets for a few minutes, trying to pick out where your alley is, but they all look the same and you don't even know if you're looking out from the correct side of the building. For all you know, your home could be in the completely opposite direction.

You smile grimly, finding it a little sad that even after two years of not seeing it, you still consider a pile of blankets, which probably isn't even there anymore, to be your home.

Your thoughts are interrupted by a knock at the door, which seems to be a reoccurring theme with you.

"Come in," you call.

Dr. Banner walks in with steaming bowl of oatmeal and a glass of juice in his hands and some clothing under his arm. You can't help but chuckle as you see that he's wearing the exact same clothes as yesterday.

"What's so funny?", he asks as he sets the items on the bed. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, no, I just find it strange that a man who lives in a place such as this would wear the same clothing two days in a row. You probably have enough money to buy several clothing companies."

"I don't, Tony does. Besides, these are comfortable."

You chuckle again, thinking that this must be the most you've smiled in years. Then the smell from the oatmeal hits your nose and immediately the only thought on your mind is of food.

"Is that for me?", you ask as you point to the bowl.

"Yes, and I've also brought some clothes for you to…"

He trails off as you quickly walk over, grab the bowl, and start to wolf it down. You finish in about a minute and when you look up, Bruce looks both surprised and amused.

"I don't think I've seen anyone eat that fast since Thor challenged Clint to a hotdog eating contest."

You wipe your mouth and feel a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, the only food that I've eaten in the past two years was disgusting and cold and before that… Well, that food was just as bad. In fact, I think that that was one of the most delicious things that I have ever eaten in my entire life."

Bruce chuckles. "Well, there's plenty more where that came from. Everyone is out in the common room, so get changed and meet me outside and I'll introduce you to everyone."

You finish off your juice and he takes your glass and bowl and leaves the room. You quickly change into the T-shirt and jeans that he gave you, which actually fit somehow, and open the door to find Dr. Banner waiting for you.

"Good, they fit you. Nat thought that you might be the same size as her, but she wasn't sure."

"Yeah, they fit really well. Um, where'd the dishes go?", you ask. You don't think that he had had enough time to go down to the kitchen and back. He simply points down the hall and you turn to see a robot rolling away with the dirty glass and bowl in its grasp.

"I had Jarvis send Butterfingers up to take them back to the kitchen."

You quirk an eyebrow. "Should you really be trusting a robot named Butterfingers with fragile tableware?"

"Hmm, probably not."

He shrugs and motions for you to follow him. You head off down the hall and after passing a few doors, you turn right into a spacious room with a circle of couches and armchairs in the center. Instead of a wall across from the door, there's a gigantic window showing a beautiful view of the skyline.

The rest of the Avengers, who are all lounging on the couches, look up as you walk in. For the first time since you met them, you can feel their eyes linger on your scar. They didn't have time to stare during the battle and Banner has somehow managed not to. Although, he does turn into _The Hulk_ , so he has no right to stare at other people.

"Everyone, this is _, _, this is," he points to each of the Avengers, "Steve, Clint, Natasha, Thor, and the grumpy man-baby over there," he points to Mr. Stark, who does not seem happy that you aren't in chains, "is Tony."

"I prefer the term genius, thank you very much," he says, pouting.

Captain Rodgers stands up and offers you his hand, which you shake. "Hello, _, it's a pleasure to meet you."

You give him a small smile. "Nice to meet you, too."

"I'm sorry about the cuffs, but we couldn't take the chance that Hydra had a lasting impression on your brain."

"It's okay, I understand." You're a bit surprised by how kind he's being towards you. Didn't Dr. Banner say that Captain Rodgers was the one who made the decision to bring you here? You'll have to ask him why later.

He motions for you to sit in an armchair in between two of the couches. "If you would please have a seat, we have a few questions for you. Is that alright with you?"

You nod and have a seat. Dr. Banner and Captain Rodgers take their seats as well.

Natasha leans forward, placing her elbows on her knees. "How did you end up in the hands of Hydra?"

You look down at your hands, which are clasped in your lap. "They captured me two years ago. I was living on the streets then and I was sleeping in my alley when it happened. They grabbed me, gave me a shot of something that knocked me out, and threw me in their truck. I tried to fight, but…"

You pause for a second to collect yourself and continue. "Anyway, they took me to the compound that you found me in. I met this guy, a real creep named Dr. Hollow. He told me that I had the x-gene and…"

You stop as you see the look of surprise on the faces of the Avengers. "What is it? Do you guys know who he is?"

Dr. Banner gives you a grim look. "According to the information that we've gathered on Hydra, Dr. Hollow is one of their top scientists, a real nasty piece of work that is willing to do whatever it takes to get results. Apparently, he would beat his more rebellious patients with a whip until they were almost dead in order to teach them a lesson. Is he the one that gave you that scar?" He looks a little awkward as he asks that last question, as if he isn't sure if it's okay to ask it or not.

You smile as if to say that it's okay. "Actually, before I was living on the streets, I was in an orphanage. I was always reading and the other girls loved to make fun of me for it. They would give me these really visible bruises just before I met potential parents so that I would never get adopted. One day a girl took it too far and attacked me with a pocket knife. They sent her to a correctional facility, but I still had to leave after that. The other girls weren't too happy with me for getting her sent away."

Natasha looks at you kindly. "You must have been very brave to leave and survive on your own for all that time. Could you tell us how Dr. Hollow knew that you had the x-gene? Also, what did Hydra want a mutant for?"

"They used a machine that could detect it, but only if the machine was close to the person that had it. He also told me about something called Project Evolve. It involved experimentation on mutants in order to create a sort of human weapon that could rival the Avengers. He said that I could be that weapon. Of course, I refused, but you can all see that that didn't stop them."

Clint looks concerned. "Is it possible that there are other people like you that are under their control?"

"Dr. Hollow never mentioned any others, but I'm sure that there are."

"Great, just what we need, more terrorists," Mr. Stark grumbles.

Captain Rodgers frowns at him, "Ignore him, please, _. He doesn't believe that bringing you here was the best course of action."

"Actually, sir," you feel like sir is the best way to address him, "why _did_ you bring me here, knowing that it would be such a huge risk? I tried to ask Dr. Banner, but he said to ask you."

Mr. Stark turns to look at Captain Rodgers. "Actually, I've been wondering that exact same thing."

Captain Rodgers sighs, "I once had a friend who I though had died, but in reality, Hydra took him and turned him into a weapon, just like they turned you into one. I know that it wasn't your fault, and since I couldn't save him, I wanted to try and save you."

Everyone else in the room starts to look a little uncomfortable, so he clears his throat and asks, "Could you please tell us what happened to you in the two years before Hydra took you?"

"Well there's not much to tell. Mostly, I was just surviving. I would search for food every day and at the end of each day, I would return to my alley, sleep, wake up, and do it all over again."

"What about your powers?", Dr. Banner asks. "We've experienced your supersonic scream, lasers, invisibility, illusions, and shockwaves first hand, but is there anything else that you are able to do? Not that that isn't an impressive collection all on its own."

"All of my powers are basically me manipulating the light and vibrations in the air around me. I can make my voice sound like anyone's and I can create the illusion that I am someone else. I can make it so that only certain people can see or hear something by aiming the light or sound waves exclusively at them and no one else. I can also create a flash-bang kind of effect and if I concentrate, I can sense the light particles and sound waves in the air in other rooms, allowing me to 'see' and 'hear' through walls."

When you finish, even Mr. Stark looks impressed.

"You have quite a range of powers," says Thor. "I am surprised that we were able to best you in battle."

"We didn't, remember?", says Clint, "She knocked herself out." He looks over at you. "Why did you do that, anyways? You're lucky that you didn't do any damage to your brain."

"I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Really, I should have done it when Thor disabled the chip at the beginning of the fight. If I had, I wouldn't have tried to hurt any of you. Especially you, Dr. Banner. You're the only one that I landed any real hits on."

"You didn't try to hurt me, you tried to hurt the Big Guy, and believe me when I say he's handled far worse than a few lasers. No offense."

"None taken." You shrug. All of a sudden, a yawn takes you by surprise, and even though you try to suppress it, it still gets through.

Captain Rodgers chuckles. "Well, I think that's enough for one day. You're still recovering from your injuries, so I believe that it's time for you to go back to your room and get some rest. Tomorrow, I'll have Natasha give you a tour of the tower and she can explain which areas are off limits and where we take our meals. If you need anything, feel free to ask us or Jarvis."

"Um… sorry, but who's Jarvis? Dr. Banner mentioned him earlier, but I still don't know who he is."

Suddenly a voice comes out of nowhere, making you jump. "I am Mr. Stark's personal AI. Simply ask me a question at any time and I will be able to answer it."

"Oh... T-Thanks. I'll try not to bother you too much."

"I live to serve." Was that sarcasm?

Dr. Banner stands up, "Well, I think it's time for you to be getting back to your room. I don't want you to accidentally pull those stitches in your shoulder."

You nod and follow Dr. Banner out of the room.

 **Avengers' Perspective**

"Poor girl," says Nat, "I can't believe how much she's been through."

"Yes, we're all very impressed with the sob story," Tony says, "But how do we know that she's telling the truth? For all we know, she left the orphanage and joined Hydra willingly."

"I find that unlikely, sir," Jarvis interrupts, "I was monitoring her vitals the entire time, and she appeared to be telling the truth."

"Great, now my own creations are turning against me. I still don't trust her and the fact that we're giving her access to the tower is going to end in disaster."

"Yes, we know how you feel, Stark," says Steve, "but I think that we should give her a chance."

"Clint, back me up on this, buddy."

"Sorry, Stark, but I think that we should give her a chance. It's not like we have to trust her yet, but we should at least allow her to try and prove herself," says Clint with a shrug.

"Really? You're a traitor to the cause, you know that?"

"Settle down, Stark," Steve interrupts, "It's not like she'll have free reign. She'll have an escort at all times and we won't give her access to any of the labs, our rooms, or the weapons storage. She'll also have those cuffs on at all times."

"Fine, just make sure that she stays out of my hair."

 **Your Perspective**

You pause outside of your room and turn to Dr. Banner. "Mr. Stark doesn't like me very much, does he?" You laugh.

"No, sorry about that. He'll warm up to you eventually and drop the conspiracy theories."

"It's okay. I'm thankful that at least one of you doesn't trust me." Dr. Banner looks confused, so you explain, "You never know what will happen in the future. I was very valuable to Hydra, so they'll probably try to get me back. If they ever try to control me again, I'll need someone who will fight me without hesitation."

"It won't come to that. Besides, we know how to disable the chip, if only temporarily. If they ever do get ahold of you again, we'll stop them."

You envy him for his optimism. You've seen better than anyone else how far Hydra will go to get what they want, so you don't expect to be with the Avengers long. Still, you decide to humor him.

"Let's hope so." You give him a small smile and walk into your room, closing the door behind you.

You grab the pajamas that are laid out on your bed and glance up at the security camera. You were too preoccupied this morning to realize that you had changed right in front of its watchful eye.

"Hey Jarvis, is there anywhere that I can change without that thing seeing everything I do?"

"There is a bathroom to your right."

Looking over, you notice a small bathroom that you hadn't seen yesterday or this morning.

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

You change in the bathroom, fold your old clothing at the foot of your bed, and climb under the covers. As you curl up on your side, you can't help but feel a little excited for another day of freedom and exploration tomorrow. You might as well enjoy this experience while it lasts.


	5. Accused

Ch 5

You wake up, grab some clothes out of the nightstand, and change in the bathroom. When you walk back into the room, you're surprised to see Natasha sitting on your bed.

"Oh, hey, I didn't hear you come in."

She grins, "Good. Ready to begin your tour?'

"Sure."

You follow her down the path that Butterfingers took yesterday and arrive at the kitchen, which is attached to the dining room.

"This is where we eat. Feel free to get something anytime you're hungry. We don't have many sit-down meals, due to the fact that at we're always being called out on missions. Of course, we'll have to work out a schedule where one of us stays behind so that someone is always here with you. Tony is convinced that you're going to sabotage his lab somehow." She sighs in exasperation.

"Sorry," you mumble.

"No, it's not your fault. Tony's never been incredibly trusting. He once had Jarvis monitor Clint for an entire week just because Clint painted a red, white, and blue dick on one of his robots, then tried to blame it on Steve."

You can't help but laugh, "Aren't you people supposed to be professionals?"

"Well, we were, but then this team happened, and it was all downhill from there."

You walk down the hall to an elevator, which takes you a few floors down. Nat leads you out, down the hall, and into a room with a high ceiling and more large windows, which fill the room with natural light. There's workout equipment along three of the walls and the rest of the room is taken up by wrestling mats.

In the middle of the room, Captain Rodgers and Clint are sparring without their weapons. They move so quickly that they're practically a blur. After a few minutes, Clint finally makes a mistake and in a fraction of a second, Rodgers has him pinned

Nat starts clapping and you hesitantly join in. The two fighters look over in surprise. They had been so focused that they hadn't even heard you come in.

"Jeez, Clint, you must be losing your edge. You do realize that you just lost to a 90-something-year-old, right?"

You stare at Nat, a bit shocked that she would say something like that to a fellow superhero.

You're even more surprised when Clint responds with, "I've certainly knocked _you_ on your ass enough times, Nat. What do you say?", he springs up unto a fighting position, his fists raised, "Wanna go a few rounds?"

"Sorry, no can do. Actually," she turns towards you, "I wanted to try and assess _'s skill."

You look at her in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you seemed pretty acrobatic during our battle, so you must have some hand-to-hand training in addition to your powers."

"They uploaded some programs to the chip, which taught me how to fight, among other… things." You had always found it disconcerting when you would wake up in the morning and suddenly know a new method of killing or torture that you hadn't known when you fell asleep.

They seem to understand and don't ask what those things were.

"Well, let's get started, then."

Clint and Rodgers exit the mats and sit on a bench by the door to watch, while Nat kicks off her shoes and the two of you get into your positions.

You watch Nat's eyes. Right before an enemy strikes, there will always be something in their eyes. All of a sudden, you see a flicker. She's good, most people squint or do something noticeable that will warn you, but all there is in Nat's is the tiniest perceptible show of emotion. A millisecond later, her fist flies out towards your head, but you're able to duck back and retaliate with a round-house kick to her stomach. She stumbles back, a bit surprised.

"Good, good," she grins, "This means I can go all out."

The next minute is a flurry of kicks, punches, palm strikes, and blocks. You're in the process of blocking another punch when you hear a yell from the door. You turn and are caught by a repulsor blast that sends you skidding across the mat.

Without your powers, you black out for a few seconds and when you come to, Nat is hovering over you, screaming at Stark, who's standing with a single armored hand outstretched by the door.

"What the hell, Tony!?"

"I saw you fighting her on the monitors," he glares at Rodgers and Clint, "Do you two realize how easily that _thing_ could have killed her? Why didn't you intervene?"

Rodgers gets in Starks's face.

"She's a _human being_ , Stark, not an 'it'! They were sparing, you had no right to attack her."

You sit up and Nat cautions you to lie still, but you wave her off.

"It's okay, sir, I'm all right." You try to stand, but you stumble. Nat catches you and carefully lowers you to the ground.

"No, you're not all right, _," Clint say as he burns a hole in Starks's skull with his gaze. For the first time since you've met him, Clint terrifies you and you are incredibly grateful that you aren't at the receiving end of his rage.

"Stark, I think you'd better leave." Stark and Clint stare each other down for a few seconds, but your attacker finally looks away.

"You're all making a huge mistake," he gives you one last accusing stare as he leaves, shoulders hunched.

Steve and Clint rush over to you and help you up, supporting you as you stumble over to a bench.

"I'll be fine in a little bit," you insist, "just let me rest for a few minutes."

Steve looks are your wrists in disgust. "If only you weren't wearing those things, he wouldn't have hurt you so badly, if at all. Unfortunately, only Stark has the ability to take them off of you. I had to agree to that in order to be able to bring you here."

You smile kindly at him, "It's okay, they keep me from hurting all of you."

They look at you sadly. God, you can almost _see_ the pity hanging in the air. You know that look. People that would pass you when you were living on the streets would give you that exact same look, if they even looked at you at all.

Finally, Nat breaks the awkward silence.

"Are you okay to walk?", she asks. You nod and she helps you up.

"Have you had any food yet, today?"

"No," you say and, almost as if on cue, your stomach lets out a huge grumble.

They all grin.

"Well, come on," says Clint, "We saved you some pancakes from earlier. If we hadn't, Captain Bottomless Pit, here, would have eaten all of them."

"Thank you," you laugh as Steve gives Clint an indignant look. You follow them out of the room.

 **Tony's Perspective**

Why couldn't they just see it his way? The girl could have easily killed Nat if he hadn't intervened. One quick flick of her hands and she could have snapped Nat's neck. It probably wouldn't have been the first time she'd done something like that, either.

Tony storms into his lab and throws his gauntlet down on the table, grabbing up a wrench before beginning to make unnecessary adjustments to his suit. A few minutes later, Bruce walks in and leans against the table.

"Let me guess. You're here to lecture me and insist that I give that little terrorist a chance. Let me save you the trouble by saying that that won't work and that my opinion still stands," Tony says, slamming his wrench down before crossing his arms and turning to glare at his friend.

Bruce tilts his head and studies Tony for a few seconds before saying, "No, actually, I'm not. Jarvis told me about what happened in the training room. I watched the footage and after you left, Steve made a comment about how, if she hadn't had the gauntlets on, she wouldn't have been hurt as badly as she was."

"Oh, so you're here to convince me to take them off, is that it?"

"No. Settle down. After he said that she told them something that reminded me of what she said to me yesterday. She said that she's actually _grateful_ that you don't trust her and that she can't use her powers. She said that, this way, if Hydra ever tries to

control her again, she wouldn't be able to attack us as easily and you

wouldn't hesitate to bring her down."

Tony stares at him, not comprehending.

"Why would she say that? If I was an evil spy, I would want people to trust me as much as possible. You know what, it's probably just a trick, another way to get inside our heads."

"Actually, Tony, I was thinking that maybe there's the tiniest chance that she _isn't_ evil."

Tony sighs, "You know, there used to be a clear line between good and evil, but now Hydra keeps pumping out these hybrids that are evil, but everyone is convinced that they're just misunderstood. It's making it really hard for me to do my job."

Bruce opens his mouth to reply, but an alarm starts blaring, cutting off whatever response he might have had.

 **Your Perspective**

You're carrying your second helping of pancakes back to the table when the alarm starts going off. You jump so badly that you drop the plate and it shatters across the floor.

Nat and Steve, who are sitting at the table, jump to their feet.

Steve runs down the hall to get his shield, shouting, "Jarvis, fill me in!"

Nat runs over to you, "Come on, let's get you someplace safe."

She tries to pull you towards the door, but you can't make your body move from fear. Nat puts her hands on your shoulders.

" _, snap out of it! We have to move."

All you can do is stare at her and say, in a whisper that is almost too quiet to be heard over the alarm, "They've found me."


	6. Attacked

Ch 6

"Jarvis, talk to me, buddy. What's going on?", Tony yells over the alarm.

"I'm not entirely sure, sir. You'll have to see the footage for yourself, but it appears that we have an intruder."

A view of your bedroom pops up on the holographic display on the table behind Bruce. They both watch as a shadow seems to detach itself from the wall and solidify into a girl about your age. She's tall with short, black hair and is dressed in a skin-tight, black body suit with the Hydra insignia on her chest. Grinning evilly at the camera, she melts once more into the shadows and slides up the wall, into a vent.

"Just what we need, another freak loose in the tower," Tony steps into his suit, "Jarvis, keep tabs on our friend in the air ducts. Send her movements directly to my display."

His faceplate slams down and the display boots up. In the lower, right hand corner is a map of the building and its ventilation system. The intruder is labeled with a red dot. The map has also replaced the holographic video feed that they had been watching before.

"She's moving pretty fast," Bruce observes, "She must still be using the shadows as transportation, seeing as no one could ever crawl that fast."

Tony radios the rest of the team, "Guys we have an intruder. Very pretty, but with some serious voodoo abilities. She can melt into the shadows, so who knows what else she's capable of doing. She also had a big, fat 'property of hydra' stamped on her, so I'll just say that I did tell you all so."

"Yeah, we get the idea, Stark," Steve says as he grabs his shield, "Everyone suit up and assemble at the intruder's location. Except for you, Nat. Take _ somewhere safe."

"Rodger that."

"Stark, where's our intruder headed."

"She's making a beeline straight towards my lab. Bruce and I are there now, but you guys had better get down here soon."

"I will be there in but a moment, my friend," Thor thunders.

"Heading your way now," Clint says with far less volume.

Tony turns to Bruce, "You'd better do you thing, big guy, or get out the way."

Bruce nods and his face contorts as his skin turns green and he grows to over twice his previous size. Luckily, the ceiling is high enough to accommodate the Hulk's height.

Tony grins. "Welcome to the party."

The Hulk just grunts and peers around, watching for the intruder.

Steve, Clint, and Thor burst through the doors.

"How far away is she, Stark?", Clint asks. He still looks a bit pissed about earlier.

"She's about five seconds from bursting thorough that vent," Tony says, ignoring Clint's angry look as he points towards a vent across the room. Clint nocks an arrow and draws his bow as Steve raises his shield and Thor hefts his hammer. Tony aims his repulsors across the room and the Hulk growls and crouches, getting ready to charge the approaching assailant.

Everything is silent except for the Hulk's breathing. The next second, the vent cover goes flying across the room and shadows like melted rubber begin pouring out onto the floor.

From the mass of darkness rises the girl from the security feed. Her grin chills everyone's blood as the shadows rise up like tentacles around her.

"Tell me where she is and I might just kill you quickly."

A few floors up, Nat has finally gotten you moving and hurries you into the elevator. She presses the button for the floor that Tony's lab is on. You look at her with a mixture of confusion and a bit of panic.

"Why are we going _towards_ the dangerous mutant Hydra agent?"

"I'm going to put you in Bruce's panic room. It's for when he needs to hulk out and can't contain it anymore. It's down the hall from Tony's lab and it's the most secure room in the building. Once I drop you off there and seal the doors, I'm going to go and help the boys. Something tells me that they're going to need all the aid they can get."

You nod as the doors slide open. Nat hurries you down the hall and into an empty, white, padded room. You try to ignore the fact that it looks a lot like a large cell for psychiatric patients.

"Stay here. When I leave, hit this button to lock the doors," she points to a red button on a panel next to the door, "When I come back to get you, I'll knock like this in order to let you know that it's me," she raps he knuckles on the door twice, pauses, then gives it three more knocks, " _Do not_ open the door for anyone else, even if it's someone that sounds exactly like me. To open the door, press the button again."

"How do you guys keep Dr. Banner in here when he's hulking out? Wouldn't the Hulk be able to hit the button and get out?" At this point, you're just trying to stall for time. Nat's teammates probably need her right now, but you don't want to be left alone.

"It's specially designed so that once the doors are locked, they can only be unlocked with a human finger print."

From down the hall, you can both hear the sounds of a fight, signaling the fact that the intruder has reached the lab. Nat glances behind her, then turns back to you.

"I'll be back soon."

The door slides closed behind her and you press the button, hearing the lock click into place. You pace for a few seconds, listening to the sounds of battle, then decide to sit on the floor against the wall.

You're close enough that you can easily hear the explosions and booming of thunder. Every once in a while, the Hulk bellows, shaking the whole building, but you never hear a single scream. Whether they were the product of pain or fear, you had always heard them on your missions. This one almost seems like a fake battle to you, you're so used to hearing screams.

Your morbid train of though is suddenly interrupted by a profound silence. You strain your ears, even turning so that you can press one to the wall, but you can't detect a single sound. It's almost as if someone has cut off your hearing. You snap your fingers next to your ears, but you can hear just fine. Worry begins to claw at your heart, making it pump faster and faster. Did they defeat the intruder? What if they've all been killed?

Finally, the curiosity gets the better of you and you push yourself up to a standing position. You cautiously walk over to the door and hit the button. The door slides soundlessly open and you stand to the side, peering around the door frame into the hallway.

Using your stealth training, you advance down the hallway towards the lab. You're struck by the thought that, if the attacker did succeed in defeating the others, they could come into the hallway at any moment and spot you. Without your powers, you would be sitting duck for any attack that would follow.

Despite these thoughts, you make it to the area outside the lab safely. Pressing against the wall, you peer around the corner into the trashed lab. There are work tables smashed against the walls and scorch marks on the floor from Thor's lightning and Tony's repulsors. The fluorescent lights are flickering and hanging from the ceiling, adding a creepy, haunted look to the already heart-stopping scene.

Lying around the room, encased in what look like shadowy, black ropes with matching gags, are the fallen Avengers. Even the Hulk is immobilized. They struggle against their bindings and Tony seems to be trying to yell some very choice words at the intruder, but none of them can move or make a sound.

Standing among them is a girl with short, black hair and a Hydra jumpsuit not unlike the one that they used to make you wear. Curling around her are what look like black tentacles, but they're not exactly _black_. They almost look like holes in your vision, like they're made of pure darkness.

However, the tentacles are not what disturb you about the scene. You aren't even very disturbed by the fact that the Avengers have been defeated. It scares you, but it doesn't disturb you, making you feel like something isn't right, like something's changed and you can't tell what it is. What disturbs you is that the girl looks _familiar_ , like you've met her before.

You watch as she begins pacing among your fallen friends, grinning manically as her tentacles follow, trailing from her shadow.

"I assume that you've all heard of me. I am the darkness that comes before death, slow and suffocating and silent. I am the deepest depth of the ocean and the darkness of space high above you. What? You haven't heard of me?", she pouts, looking around at her quiet captives. "Well, I'll just have to jog your memory, then. The name's Abyss."

All of the Avengers' eyes widen and they struggle a bit harder against their bindings. Steve in particular looks like he's about to throttle anyone and anything that gets between him and decking this girl.

She laughs, throwing her head back in the classic villain style. "So you _have_ heard of me. I knew it! Now," she suddenly becomes very serious, the look in her eyes as dark as her shadows, "where is that piece of trash that you picked up at your last raid? Anyone want to volunteer the information? How about…. you," she points at Tony and the shadows disappear from around his helmet.

Your heart skips a beat. Knowing how distrustful he is of you, Tony probably has a tracking device in your cuffs. He's probably been aware of your every move since you first arrived. All it would take is for him to say the word, and you're as good as dead. You hold your breath as he silently regards Abyss.

"I don't know."

You let out your pent up breath, equal parts relieved and confused as to why Tony of all people would help you.

Abyss's expression turns positively icy and murderous.

"Now why don't I believe you? Oh well, I'll just have to pry you out of your flimsy little crab shell. Maybe then you'll be more willing to talk."

She stretches her hands out towards Tony, her fingers like claws. The tentacles around her lift from the ground and stiffen, turning into menacing spikes. Abyss positions them over Tony, poised to pierce his armor.

"No!", you scream and rush into the room, forgetting about your lack of powers and the fact that you're supposed to be hiding right now. Your only thought is that Tony is about to be exposed and probably hurt and most likely killed and you refuse to let anyone get hurt just because they helped you.

On instinct, you fling your hands towards Abyss, fingers outstretched as if you were going to summon a laser. For the tiniest fraction of a second, nothing happens and the room goes completely silent. Abyss starts to turn towards you, but she's moving in slow motion, along with everyone else in the room.

For the smallest moment, you think _I'm dead. This is how I die._

Then, you feel your power welling up inside you, slowly at first, then in a tidal wave of light. It sweeps up from your chest, down your arms, and shoots through your fingertips, hitting Abyss in the center of the chest.

Suddenly, everything goes from slow motion to hyper speed and before you know it, Abyss has been flown across the room and through the window, falling out of sight.

The shadows disappear from around the Avengers and the tentacles melt into the floor without a trace. The heroes sit up and stare at you, equal parts confused and amazed that you were able to use your powers. Nat, on the other hand, just looks like she's about to wring your neck for leaving your hiding place.

You're also confused as to how you were able to use your powers, until you look down and see that the cuffs are completely fried. They've both stopped glowing and are emitting smoke. One even falls off under your gaze.

You start to hyperventilate, dangerously near true panic. Without the cuffs, Hydra can take control of you again. What if the chip's influence is still there, lurking in the back of your mind? What if you suddenly go crazy one day and decide to hurt the people who had saved you, despite being the monster that you were? You can't let that happen, you can't let your powers endanger anyone else ever again.

In your worry, you imagine that you can feel the chip urging you to attack the Avengers. You know exactly how you would do it, too. You'd start off with a sonic scream and a flash-bang to disorient them, turn invisible, and bombard them all with lasers until they're bleeding out on the floor. It would be so quick that even the Hulk wouldn't be able to stop you.

No! You can't even think of doing that. You would never do that. Right?

Finally, the panic takes hold of you and there are tears streaming down your face. You bring your palms up next to your ears and prepare to send another shockwave through your skull. You know it might kill you, but you're tired. You're tired of being afraid, you're tired of hurting people, and you're tired of life itself. Everything is just too painful, so why not end it.

You close your eye, but before you can do it, you feel Nat's arms around you and her voice in your ear whispering that it'll be all right. You grip her and cry, collapsing against her chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," you sob over and over again.

She rubs your back and shushes you softly, lowering you carefully to the ground.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, _. You saved Tony, and probably the rest of us as well. There's no reason for you to be sorry."

You don't have the energy to respond and after a few minutes, your sobs die down to hiccups and you fall asleep against her, exhausted.

Nat looks up to see Thor, Steve, Tony, Clint, and a recently-returned Bruce standing awkwardly around her, unsure of what to do.

"She saved me," Tony says, flipping his faceplate up. He doesn't say it with surprise or confusion, just as a statement of fact. Maybe, just maybe, this girl isn't as bad as he used to think.

They all nod. Nat gently lifts you and carries you back to your room with the others in tow. As she sets you down on the bed, Tony steps forward.

Gently, so as not to wake you, he unlocks your remaining useless cuff and takes it off.

"I don't think she'll be needing this anymore, not that they actually worked."

The others smile, happy that you've finally been given the full Avengers approval. As they all quietly exit your room, Thor is the only one that seems unsettled.

"My friends, I do not think that our troubles are over. I took a glimpse from the window that lady Abyss flew out of. Her body was nowhere to be found. I fear that she might have survived her plummet."

The smiles fall from their faces.

"Great," Steve growls, "just what we need: Hydra's number one secret weapon running loose again. From what we read in those files that we got from _'s base, we're extremely lucky to have survived our earlier encounter."

"Yeah, she makes _ look like a harmless kitten. Speaking of which, I'm worried about that whole episode a few minutes earlier," Clint says, referring to your psychological breakdown, "Why was she so panicked about being able to use her powers? If I was her, I would be excited to finally get them back. Do you think she was worried that we would be angry?"

"No, think about what she's done with those powers," says Bruce, "When you have the power to kill people, you might be scared of that power and prefer killing yourself to being given the opportunity to use it."

They all go silent at that. Steve heaves a stressed sigh and addresses everyone.

"Alright, Tony and Bruce, I want you to start tracking this girl. See if you can find out if she's emitting any energy signatures and scrub social media for any reports of falling girls or weird shadow activity. Everyone else, I'll radio you if we find her, but other than that, you can go about your usual business."

They all nod and go their separate ways.


	7. Named

A few weeks have passed since Abyss attacked and even though you're still hesitant about using your powers and you are always super careful to never unleash your full potential on anyone, things are going well.

The Avengers have been letting you go on small, covert missions with them, and even a few big ones. Just last week, you helped to raid a gang's weapons stash in an abandoned warehouse. Other than the occasional raid or garden-variety powered villain making a stab at conquering the city, you haven't caught any whiff of Project Evolve members causing trouble, especially Abyss.

The day after her attack, you asked Steve why everyone had seemed so angry to learn who she was. Apparently, she had assassinated hundreds of Shield agents in the past two years, making each one seem like an accident, natural death, or a regular old casualty in a fight. She had also managed to take out hundreds of threats to Hydra all over the world. Only a true psychopath could do that much killing and still smile the way she had.

At the moment, you're doing Ultimate Target Practice with Clint. You're both in the indoor shooting range and on one wall is a row of targets. Clint and you stand at the other end of the room and Clint is firing arrow after arrow at the targets switching from left to right in order to keep you guessing as to where he's going to fire next. Your job is to shoot the arrow before it hits the target. You haven't missed yet.

Clint nocks, draws, and shoots an arrow in a fraction of a second. When it's halfway to the target, your laser hits it and it disintegrates. Its dust exploding towards the target before slowing and drifting lazily towards the ground.

Clapping erupts behind you and you turn to see that Steve and Thor have done exactly what you and Nat did a few weeks ago and walked into the room without anyone noticing. That day feels like it was years ago.

"Very impressive, Lady _," Thor exclaims, "I do not believe that I have beheld your level of skill and speed even among Asgard's finest warriors."

"What am I? Chopped liver?", Clint says, looking mildly offended.

"Why would you look like-"

"Forget it, Thor, it's a Midgardian saying," Steve interrupts. Thor still looks confused, but he doesn't press the subject.

Bruce's voice cuts in over the com link, "Hey guys, I need you all down in the kitchen, _now_. It's an emergency."

You all hurry out of the shooting range and take the elevator a few floors up. The doors slide open to reveal a dark hallway with only a little illumination coming in through the windows in the adjoining rooms. You immediately sense that something is wrong. Everything seems just a bit too quiet, like the tower is holding its breath, waiting to see what will happen.

You all sneak down the hall towards the kitchen, making barely a sound. When you reach the doorway, you hold up your hand to stop the others and extend your mind towards the other room, sensing the light as it bounces around the room.

 _Wait… That can't be right._

You step into the doorway and suddenly all of the lights flick on, revealing a Bruce, Nat, and Tony, who are all grinning ridiculously.

They, along with Clint, Steve, and Thor, all yell, "Surprise!"

Sitting on a table in the center of the room is a big birthday cake with the number 22 scrawled in icing on the top. Behind it on the wall is a big banner that says "Happy 22nd Birthday, _!"

You laugh with delight, "Wow, thank you. No one's ever done anything like this for me before. But how did you find out what day my birthday is? _I_ didn't even know."

"We looked though your orphanage records," says Nat.

"That bitch, she knew the whole time," you mumble with a rueful smile. You had always hated the headmistress. The smile slowly slides off of your face to be replaced by a look of horror. "Wait, how much of my records did you see?"

"All of them," says Clint, "and I must say, you were quite a trouble maker back then. That thing with the pasta? Priceless."

You slap your hand to your forehead. "Noooo, I was hoping that you wouldn't find out about that." They all laugh at your embarrassment, the jerks.

When you were five, you had put pasta in the headmistress' hair after she went to sleep. It had been revenge for having your book on mammals taken from you earlier that day. You were caught red-handed, of course, and they took your reptile and amphibian books as punishment.

"Hey, are you going to blow out these candles, or are we going to have to starve?", Clint asks.

"Now who's a bottomless pit?", Steve replies.

You walk over to the cake and after a few moments thought, you blow out the candles to everyone's applause.

"What did you wish for?", Bruce asks.

You shake your finger at him, "You know that if you tell someone what you wished for it won't come true. But in this case, I think it's safe to tell you. I didn't wish for anything. I already have everything that I ever wanted," you say, smiling at everyone.

Tony pretends to wipe a tear from his eye. "I'm very touched, _. So much, in fact, that I'm feeling a little violated right now."

"Careful, Stark, you don't want to make your mascara run."

Thor grins. "I think that is what you Midgardians call a "burn", my friend." Everyone ignores him.

"There must be something that you want on your birthday," Nat says.

You think for a little bit, and something jumps to the forefront of your mind.

"Actually… yeah, there is something," you hesitate for a second and Nat motions for you to continue, "I'd like to visit the old alley where I used to live. You know, before I got kidnapped."

Steve nods, "Yeah, we can do that later. For now, there's something else that we need to do." Everyone smiles as if they know something that you don't.

"It's been around a month since you've left the dark side," says Clint, "and we think that it's about time that you get a name."

You give him a confused look, "But I already have a name."

Tony rolls his eyes, "No, a second name, like Iron Man or Black Widow. Call it a rite of passage to finally become an official Avenger."

"Wait, really?", you grin.

"But of course," Thor thunders, "You have already helped us on many an endeavor and you have already saved the life of the Man of Iron, along with the rest of us, I suspect. It is high time that you joined the team."

"So, have any ideas, _?", Bruce asks.

You think for a few seconds, but nothing comes to mind. You shake your head.

"How about… Star?", Steve suggests.

You shake your head.

"Rudolf?", Clint asks with a grin.

You frown. "Definitely not."

Everyone goes silent, trying to think of what you could be called.

Finally, Tony snaps his fingers, looking triumphant.

"How about… Supernova?", he asks.

You nod. "That's perfect!"

Nat grins. "Supernova it is, then."


	8. Compared

After you had decided on your new name, the party really kicked into gear. Tony reaches into a cabinet above the counter and, unsurprisingly, pulls out some whiskey. You all play a few drinking games and everyone, except for Steve, starts getting a little tipsy.

After you all get bored of drinking games, you turn to trying to lift the hammer. You'd been told before that every party they've thrown usually involved Tony trying to "rule Asgard".

"Hey, Point Break! Let me have another go at that hammer!"

"My friend, if you were not worthy before, you will not be worthy now, but by all means, attempt to lift it."

Almost everyone takes turns trying to lift it, but no one can. Even you try, but you aren't able to make it move a centimeter. For some reason, both Steve and Nat decline to try and lift it.

Throughout the party, you see more and more of the weird behavior that you've come to expect from them as everyone gets intoxicated. At one point, Tony tries to steal Clint's cake on the sly while his back is turned. Without breaking his conversation with Thor, Clint turns, slams an arrow into the table mere millimeters away from Tony's hand, and starts eating his cake.

After getting over the shock of almost being stabbed, Tony yells, "That is _mahogany_!", but no one pays him any attention.

Near the end of the party, you suddenly notice that someone is missing.

"Where's Nat?", you ask.

Everyone searches for her for a few minutes, but when no one can find her, you all shrug and continue the festivities, confident in Nat's ability to take care of herself.

Not five minutes later, Nat jumps out of the ceiling, lands inches in front of Steve, and yells "BOO!".

To everyone's delight, Steve jumps about a foot in the air, letting out a very girly, high-pitched scream, and Thor, who was talking with Steve, almost blasts Nat with lightning, but is able to halt his attack at the last second.

You, Clint, Tony, and even Bruce are all doubled over laughing. Steve turns to glare at you and starts staring at you and Tony.

Your laughter subsides and you are able to ask "What?" around your giggles.

He shakes his head, "Nothing, it's just that I never noticed how much you look like Tony. You even have the same laugh."

Everyone else starts giving you stares as well, which makes you a bit uncomfortable.

"Yeah, you're right," says Bruce, "It must have been your…," he gestures to your scar awkwardly, "that made me not notice before."

Tony starts examining you as well.

"Hmmm... Nope! I am _way_ too handsome to look anything like you," he says with a mischievous grin.

"Ha! Yeah right! There's more ugly on you than a pig's backside, old man," you scoff.

"Who are you calling 'old man'?! I'll have you know that I am-"

"Sorry to interrupt, sir," Jarvis chimes in ( _Is that laughter that I hear in his voice?!_ ), "but there is a situation on the other side of the city. A man is managing to rob a bank without using any weapons. He simply talked the person behind the counter into giving him all of the money. He might have gotten away with it, but by removing the bills at the bottom of the register, he tripped the silent alarm. The police have not been able to handle the problem. Every time they go in, he convinces them to leave. Fortunately, the spell seems to break once they exit the bank."

"Great," Clint grumbles, "like we need any more of these guys."

A lot of powered villains have been showing up lately. Luckily, they've all been focused on getting rich and not on destroying and/or ruling the world.

"Tony, I think you're the best person for the job," Steve says, "He's unarmed, so try not to hurt him too badly."

Tony sighs as he gets up from his chair.

"I'm off to work, kiddies. I'll be back soon."

"Wait," you call, "do you want me to come too? If he's using his voice, my control of sound could be useful."

"Don't worry, kid, my suit's sealed up tight as a politician's ass. Sound only gets in if I want it to. I'll be alright on my own."

He hurries up to the roof and a minute later, you all can see him out the window as he flies towards the other side of town.

Steve turns to you, "Well, now's as good a time as any to go and visit your alley. Are you sure that you want to go?", he looks at you with concern, "You can always change your mind."

You nod.

"I want to see it one last time."

He nods, "I'll come with you, then. You never know what could happen."

You smile, happy to have someone to keep you company.

"While you're out, I'll go down to the lab and check for any more Project Evolve activity", Bruce says, "It's been a whole month, but you never know."

"Well, I guess the rest of us will just have to finish off all this cake and alcohol by ourselves while you're gone", Clint says with a grin.

You roll your eyes and follow Steve out the door.


	9. Reunited

You take the elevator down with Steve and exit the tower. Even though you've been living at the tower for over a month now, you've only taken a few actual walks around the city with any of the other Avengers. Sure, you've traveled through the city quite a few times to go and fight crime, but it's rare for you to actually take your time and observe the streets around you. You had forgotten how busy they are.

"Do you want to take a cab?," Steve asks.

"No, it's alright. I prefer to walk."

He nods.

"Lead the way," he says with a grand gesture down the street.

After about half an hour of walking without any interruptions, an old woman with a cane in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other stops you both.

"Young man, I don't know it you remember me, but I was held hostage a few years ago and you saved me. This man grabbed me while I was out on my weekly run for groceries and tied me up in the basement of an apartment building. He called your tower and said that if you came and fought him, he would let me go. When he was waiting for you, he was getting all big in his britches, confident that he would beat you and whatnot. Was so rowdy and impatient he started shooting the walls to pass the time. Must have been a big surprise for him when you took him down with one punch," she chuckles, "I'd never been so relieved in all my life, have never been as relieved since."

Steve smiles kindly at her.

"You have no reason to thank me, ma'am. I was simply doing my job. Would you like some help with your groceries?"

"Oh, thank you, young man. My apartment building is right over there," she says, pointing to the end of the block.

Steve takes the groceries out of her hand and you hold out your arm for her to take before assisting her up the sidewalk.

After you and Steve have helped her upstairs to her apartment and exited the building, you ask Steve something that has been bothering you ever since you talked to the old woman.

"Why would anyone in their right mind challenge _Captain America_ , of all people? Why would anyone challenge any of the Avengers, for that matter? You'd think that after saving the world a few times, people would realize how suicidal it would be to go up against you with no backup. Then again, backup wouldn't really help, anyway."

"Well, most of them _aren't_ in their right mind," Steve says sadly, "We get people like that every once in a while. They're so delusional that they think that they can beat anyone they challenge, no matter how strong the person is. Some of them have even claimed that they are god himself. It's extremely rare for someone to challenge us alone and not have a history of mental problems."

After another half hour of walking, you finally reach your alley.

As you and Steve approach the entrance, you stop short, hesitant about seeing what your home has been reduced to. You knew as soon as you said that you wanted to see it that your home would probably not even be there anymore. Rain, rats, other homeless people, anything could have taken away your nest while you were gone and you don't want the place where you were free for two years reduced to nothing.

Steve stops a few feet ahead of you. Turning back, he sees your worried expression and gives you a small, empathetic smile.

"You don't want it to be different, do you?," he asks as he walks back to you.

You shake your head.

He shifts his weight onto one leg and puts his hands in his pockets, which makes him look like something other than a soldier for once.

"When I first woke up, one of the first things that I did was go and visit the old apartment where I used to live, only to find that it had been torn down. I was… pretty shaken up. But," he offers you his arm and makes a little bow that somehow doesn't seem sarcastic at all, "you don't have to do this alone like I did."

"You're so corny," you laugh, but you take his arm anyway and walk with him into the alleyway.

About five meters in, there's a dumpster on the right and on the other side of that is where you made your nest, up against the wall of the building. You slowly walk past the dumpster, bracing yourself for disappointment and…

"Oh my god," you breathe.

Somehow, someway, your nest is still there, although it's little more than a disintegrating pile of rags now.

"This is where you used to live?," Steve asks. He doesn't seem incredulous or pitying or any other detestable emotion. He simply seems to understand what it was like for you out here.

"You should have seen it when I first made it," you chuckle, "I had the best bedding around and the other homeless were jealous of that. I'm actually surprised that they didn't take it once I was gone."

"They wanted to. I wouldn't let them. It was your grave."

You both whip around to see an old woman standing in the entrance of the alley way, although she looks nothing like the frail, small image that "old woman" brings to mind. She's a little bit shorter than you, with hair the color of winter clouds. Unlike the woman that you had met earlier, she had no need for a cane, as her limbs are strong and her back is not bowed in the slightest. The sight of the woman's wrinkled face gives rise to a rush of memories that burst forth from behind a dam that you had never noticed before at the very back of your mind. You remember this woman's arms around you, her hands giving you food when you had none, her voice comforting you, her kindness and smile bringing you out of the dark when you were so low that you couldn't see any beauty in the world.

"Steela!," you yell in delight as you rush to give her a hug.

"It's not every day that you get to hug a ghost", she chuckles as her arms wrap around you and pull you close, "You are really here, right?," she asks fearfully, "My brain isn't finally going?"

"No, I'm really here," you laugh, trying not to cry, "I'm sorry that I made you worry."

"I came by one day and you were gone. I asked around to see if anyone had seen you and when I heard that people had heard screams the day before, I feared the worst."

You pull away and shake your head sadly.

"I'm so sorry that I didn't come and see you. To tell you the truth, I had completely forgotten about you. Thinking about my life before I got grabbed, well… it was just too painful. Over time, the memories must have just faded away."

"I'm just happy that you're okay. You say you got grabbed? Who took you? Is that man one of them?" She frowns at Steve suspiciously.

"No, no, of course not," you laugh, "Don't you recognize him, Steela? That's Captain Steve Rodgers."

"Oh my, so it is. How did you end up in the company of an Avenger, of all people?"

You tell her the whole story, from your abduction, to the experiments that they did on you, to the things they forced you to do, to how the Avengers saved you, although you decide to leave the incident with Tony out of your story. You even conjure up a ball of light and a bit of music to demonstrate your powers.

"Oh, and today is my birthday!," you exclaim as your demonstration fades out, "I'm now 23, can you believe that?"

"Congratulations! I wish I could have something to give you, but… Actually, I _do_ have something."

She digs around in the pockets of her old, beaten up coat for a bit and comes out with what looks like a piece of folded paper. She carefully unfolds it to reveal your old missing photo.

"I found it the day I came looking for you. Some voice at the back of my mind was always telling me that I would never see you again, but I've kept it all this time, just in case I ever did. I guess the voice was wrong."

You take it from her as gently as your mother is holding you in the picture. Steve walks up behind you and peers at the picture over your shoulder.

"That's you, isn't it?," he asks as he points to the baby. You nod and try not to cry.

"I lost this the night they took me."

"That woman is your mother," he says it like a statement of fact instead of a question. You nod, wiping away the annoying tears that have started to form in your eyes as you carefully place the photo in your pocket.

"Is there anything that I could get you Steela? Tony has bought entire buildings before, I'm sure he could easily get you a house somewhere in the suburbs and help you find a good job."

"No, no, no, nothing like that," she says with a chuckle, "This one restaurant hired me a while back as a waitress. They even gave me my own uniform. I've been able to afford food and good, used clothes, and I can scrape together just enough every month to pay the rent on this little apartment that someone was nice enough to give me at half price. Things are looking up for me, though not as much as for you, kiddo. I still can't believe that you're living in _Stark Tower_. You'll never have to beg for money or food ever again, never have to sleep on the streets," she starts to choke up, "I am _so_ happy for you, _."

As you give her a tight hug, your own tears starting to show through again, Jarvis' voice crackles through your com link.

"Captain Rodgers, Miss _, it seems that Master Stark will be in need of your help after all," you pull away from Stella and listen intently, "It seems that the man's voice was able to penetrate his suit."

"Are we sure it's just his voice, Jarvis? He might also be using some form of mental telepathy."

"What is it?," Stella asks.

"Just a bit of trouble on the other side of the city, ma'am. We'll be taking care of it shortly," says Steve with a reassuring smile.

"I was monitoring Master Stark, as I always am, at the point when his actions were taken over. No outside energy entered his helmet, but rather the man's voice was able to slip through a miniscule crack at the bottom of the faceplate. The sound would not have been registered by any human ears, but it seems as if it was enough. Miss _, I would exercise extreme caution with this fellow. Do not let even the tiniest vibration slip through your grasp."

"Got it," you confirm, "Could you please send a Quinn jet to transport us, Jarvis?"

"It's on its way", after the fall of Shield, Tony decided to keep one of the Quinn jets at a nearby airfield as a mode of quick transportation for us non-flying folk, "Go to the roof of the building to your left. It will pick you up there."

"Thanks, Jarvis."

You turn back to Steela.

"Sorry, we have to go," you pull out a slip of paper and a pen, scribble down some numbers, and hand the paper to her.

"Here's the number for the tower. Just tell Jarvis that it's you and he'll patch you through to me. I'd love to meet up again sometime, see where you live, maybe bring you some of those peaches that you always liked, although I'll buy them properly this time," you promise as you remember how you used to steal peaches from a local supermarket whenever Steela felt the slightest craving for them.

She laughs and gives you one last hug, "My little hardened criminal, turned into a proper hero," she laughs.

You wave and run after Steve, your happiness turning to worry for Tony.

 _I really hope he's okay…_


	10. Accomplished

You follow Steve through the entrance of the building to your left, taking the first flight of stairs that you see to the roof where the Quinn jet is just touching down. Steve jumps into the pilot seat and you climb into the back. Even with your extensive combat training from Hydra, they never taught you how to fly or drive. All the easier to keep you captive, you guess.

With Jarvis at the controls, the jet takes you over the buildings towards the other side of the city. Within minutes, the bank is in view. The street has been blocked off to pedestrians and traffic and there is a semicircle of squadron cars around the entrance. A mobile, armored control center has been parked to the side just outside the semicircle. As Steve sets the jet down at one end of the street, a familiar red figure bursts through the doors of the bank and begins wreaking havoc. In the furthermost back corner of your mind, _Back in Black_ starts to play.

"Oh no," you grumble.

You vault out of the jet with Steve only a second behind you and run towards Tony as he turns his repulsors against that people that he had come to help. He must be under the control of the man inside, but why? He hadn't sent any police to attack their comrades, so why send Tony? You abandon your thoughts and focus on the problem at hand as a car explodes outside the bank.

"Tony, snap out of it!", you yell as you continue towards him. He blatantly ignores you. You try to get through the squad cars to engage him, but another one explodes throwing you back to where Steve is standing.

"Hey, Tin Man!", Steve bellows as his shield whizzes overhead , rebounds off Tony, and returns to his outstretched hand. Tony whips around and sends a blast at Steve, which is reflected by his shield, and takes off toward you. You scramble to your feet and are able to send a supersonic scream at him, making sure that the police officers and Steve don't get caught in the crossfire, before he lands. Tony clutches his head as he touches down, falling to one knee.

"He's not going to stop unless we knock him out," Steve sighs with resignation as Tony attempts to rise.

You nod and are on him in seconds. Steve grabs Tony's arms, wrenching them behind his back as you grip his helmet and vibrate it until it falls to pieces. Within seconds, it's gone, revealing the unfocused, slack face of your friend. One well-placed punch knocks him unconscious, allowing Steve to sling him over his shoulder and carry him into the Quinn jet.

You approach the nearest policeman, "Is everyone alright, sir?"

He nods. "Thanks to you and the Captain, no one was seriously injured. We probably owe you at least a few of our lives." By now, a few other officers have gathered, offering their thanks. It's moments like this that make all of the hard work and stress that comes with having powers worth it. Of course, the lives that they "owe you" don't come anywhere close to the lives that you've taken by force, and they never will, but maybe you can make up for at least a few of the deaths that you've caused by the end of your life.

You're usual, slightly morbid thoughts are interrupted by Steve as he appears at your side.

"I hate to cut your thanks short, gentlemen, but could you point us towards whoever is running operations here?"

The officer you first spoke with points to a woman approaching you from the direction of the control center. Her long, blond hair is pulled up in a strict bun, revealing a beautiful face dominated by serious eyes that seen to strip you down to your very soul, even from a distance. You're first impression is that Nat would like this woman. They seem alike: beautiful, yet absolutely terrifying.

"That would be Captain Holly, sir."

Steve thanks him and you both head towards her. She greets Steve with a firm handshake and an appraising look.

"That was some fine fighting. I'd expect nothing less from Captain America and…" She turns to you with confusion and a lack of recognition, which wipes the lingering smile from your face.

Steve lays a hand on your shoulder, cutting off any response that you might have made.

"This is _, also known as Supernova," you're surprised to see a look of unabashed pride overtake Steve's face. "She may not look like much," you've still in the jeans and t-shirt that you left the tower in and unlike Steve, you don't have muscles the size of melons to show off, "but she's one of our strongest members. She could probably even take down the Hulk if she ever saw the need."

"Well then," Captain Holly's eyebrows go up in an impressed look as she firmly grips your hand (ouch), "you'll certainly come in handy for the next alien invasion. If you two will come this way, I'll brief you on what's going on inside."

You follow a little ways behind her, which gives you a chance to speak with Steve.

"Did you really mean that? That I'm one of your strongest members?"

He looks down at you with surprise, "Of course. It took all of us and a malfunction in your chip to take you down," you quickly redirect your voices from reaching Captain Holly. She shouldn't be able to hear you due to Steve's lowered voice, but you can never be too careful. "Even then, you're the one that knocked yourself out, not any of us. If that glitch hadn't occurred when Thor's lightning hit you…"

He cuts off as the Captain leads you inside the control center. The structure is long, like a trailer. Along one wall is a bank of monitors showing live security footage from inside the bank. The chairs in front of the screens are occupied by two other officers who are monitoring the robber's activities. On the opposite side of the center are blueprints and schematics showing the layout of the bank. You turn your attention to Captain Holly as she begins updating you on the situation inside.

"The robber has holed himself up in the vault with five hostages. He's using the loudspeaker system to relay his voice throughout the building, making it impossible for us to get far enough to apprehend him. I assume you already know about his ability?"

Steve nods.

"Good. By channeling his voice through the loudspeaker, it seems to dilute his powers a bit. That might be why his control only lasts on my officers until they get outside. You're friend made it all the way to the vault, but the robber's control must be much more potent in person because it was able to get through his armor and last until he was outside, as you saw. By the way, I realize that you're here to help, and I'm grateful for the gesture, but I don't see how you _can_ help. We've tried everything, from earplugs to sending in attack dogs. Nothing works."

"Actually," you interject, "I can control light and sound. If I go in, I'll be able to neutralize the vibrations in the air around me, making me immune. If I can't hear his voice, he can't control me."

"Well, then we have a fighting chance," she says with a grin. Turning to the schematics, she begins to describe the inside of the building. "Once you go through these doors, you'll be in the main customer area. In the middle of the room will be a waiting area and behind that, the tellers. In the back right corner of the teller area, there is a door leading to a sort of antechamber for the vault. We don't know anything about the location of the hostages or the robber inside, as he's spray painted the cameras in and around that area, but we do know that he wouldn't close the door and trap himself inside, so you won't be needing the code in order to get in. That's all of the information that we have on the situation, but here's a piece of advice: he might order the hostages to attack you, so be careful and prevent their harm at all costs."

You nod.

"Before you go, you'd better give me your com link. We have no idea what this guy is capable of, so it's entirely possible that he could hack our channel and slip right past your defenses."

"Don't let Tony catch you saying that. He'd throw a fit." You grin, imagining Stark's look of egotistical indignation.

Steve rolls his eyes and gives a short huff, making himself sound like the stressed parent of a rowdy 5-year old, which, let's be honest, he it. "I'll be watching from here," he says with a nod towards the monitors, "Don't worry, I know that you'll do great. Just think of it as any other routine mission."

With one last nod and a grateful smile, you exit the control center and begin walking towards the entrance of the bank. In preparation for the task ahead of you, you begin to build a wall of silence around yourself. Well, not so much of a wall as a blanket. Instead of pushing the sounds around you away, you're simply creating a space in which all vibrations, both in the air and in the ground under your feet, are neutralized. By the time your reach the doors, all you can hear is the pumping of your heart and lungs as the vibrations from them travel through your bones, your own personal drum beat.

As soon as you pass through the doors, the bank's loudspeaker begins broadcasting the robber's voice throughout the building, not that you can hear it. The officers outside listen as the voice reputedly tells you to exit the building. He doesn't sound scared or confused. He dealt with the last threat, he can deal with this one, too.

When you are halfway to the vault, three men and a woman come sprinting out of the vault (she's in heels! How!?), heading straight towards you. With a flash of light and a loud bang, the three hostages are blinded and disoriented, stumbling to the ground, their mouths open in what you presume to be screams of confusion. You quickly maneuver past them before they can recover from their daze.

Bursting into the vault, you are confronted by a very difficult predicament. The robber holds up one hand in a motion for you not to move. Next to him is the final hostage, holding a gun to her own head. Apparently, he had a weapon after all.

Studying the robber, you're surprised by what you see. He looks like any other person that you would meet on the street. He seems to be in his mid-thirties and is wearing jeans, sneakers, and a plain t-shirt. The only thing that sets him apart from any other person that you would meet is his completely blank expression. There is no rage, fear, worry, or any other expression on his face. He looks almost like a toy soldier, at attention for eternity.

He point towards the door and you hold your hands up in surrender, getting his drift. If you don't leave, he'll order the girl to shoot herself. You make to start backing towards the door, but you don't intent to leave. You concentrate intently on the man's head. You've been practicing your shockwaves lately, and that's what you intent to use. If you mess this up, you could easily kill him. You were extremely lucky when you tried it on yourself, but you might not be so fortuitous here. If you get it right, he'll be knocked out without a scratch and by the time he comes to, he'll be in a cell in the tower.

You're almost to the door when you strike. In an anticlimactic finale, the robber drops to the ground like a sack of harmless bricks. Dropping your defenses, you run to the girl first, taking the gun from her shaking hands as you gently tell her to go to the police that are waiting outside. You then turn to the robber, checking his vital signs. Finding him to be still alive and kicking, you feel a rush of pride. Whenever you finish a fight without a single death, it feels like a giant "up yours" to Hydra. Hell, just being with the Avengers is the biggest one-finger-salute that you could ever give them.

Slinging the dead weight over your shoulders, you carry the man back outside. Steve gets to the doors just as you are starting to wonder how you will get through without embarrassing yourself and you walk out onto the street to the sound of clapping and cheering from the officers waiting by the squad cars. The man is of a slightly less-than-average height and doesn't weight enough to bother you, so you decline Steve's invitation to take the weight. Instead, Steve clears a path towards the Quinn jet, where Tony is holding a bag of ice to the goose egg on his forehead.

"What did you hit me with, a truck?"

"You'll be fine, you big baby," you grunt as you strap the would-be robber into a chair behind the pilot compartment. You cuff his hands and even place a ball of silence around his head for good measure, sustaining it as you head back outside to where Steve is talking to Captain Holly.

"Again, thank you so much. If you hadn't showed up, who knows when we would have been able to get to him and the hostages?" She firmly grips your hand (again, ouch) in gratitude before turning to give Steve a knowing look. "She's definitely worthy of the title of Avenger, that's for sure." She gives you a wide smile, which you return.

"Thank you, Captain Holly. I hope that I'll be able to work with you again in the future."

You follow Steve back to the jet and strap yourself into the copilot seat.

"Mind if I take over, Jarvis?" Steve asks.

"Of course not, sir."

Tony mumbles something childish under his breath about how he's the only one who Jarvis is supposed to call "sir" as Steve maneuvers the jet up and over the buildings, heading back towards the tower.

The jet lands on the roof where Thor, Bruce, Nat, and Clint are all waiting for you. Steve follows you and Tony out to your waiting friends. Jarvis once again takes control of the jet and begins flying it back to the airfield as Clint begins to mercilessly tease Tony over his incompetence.

"Dude, you are severely losing it. How can you even call yourself a hero?" he cackles.

"Shut up, I need a drink," Tony grumbles as he clanks inside, still in his suit.

"I'll go and put this guy in one of our holding cells," Steve says as he moves to follow Tony through the doors to the elevator.

Everyone else begins patting you on the back and congratulating you on a job well done as you start heading inside as well.

Thor claps a hand across your shoulder blades, almost bringing you to your knees.

"We are victorious once again, my friends! This calls for celebration!"

Everyone simply rolls their eyes. Everything is a cause for celebration in Thor's eyes.

"How does it feel, completing your first solo mission?" Nat asks.

"It feels… good." Remembering how grateful the police were, your lips part in a wide, happy grin. Today was a good day.


	11. Murdered

After bringing him to the tower and locking him in a soundproofed cell, Nat attempted to interrogate him several times. You would create a silence around him and Nat would write questions on a piece of paper for him to answer, but he never deigned to answer them. Throughout each questioning, he would stare blankly. Not at Nat, but at you. Even when Nat waved her hands in front of his face, his empty eyes never left yours. The word creepy didn't even begin to describe this guy.

Through facial recognition software, Dr. Banner had been able to figure out that the man was named Harvey Galloway and that had been reported as missing several months ago from a small town in Pennsylvania. The only family that they could find was his wife, a woman named Joann, who Steve goes to talk to. He explains her husband's situation to her and after quite a few adamant exclamations that he would never do such a thing and that her husband wasn't a mutant, she asks to see him. Steve flies her back to the tower in the Quinn jet and when she sees her husband through the 2-way mirror of his room, she breaks down crying.

"That isn't him! That can't be him," she sobs. Eventually, Steve is able to calm her down.

"What do you mean, that isn't him?," you ask.

"It just isn't," she sniffles, "You know how the eyes are the window to the soul? Well, those aren't my husband's eyes. They're the same color and shape, but they're not his."

Thor, who has accompanied Steve and you down to the holding cell, nods. He recalls how your eyes had changed drastically between when you were under the chip's control and when his lightning had made it malfunction, freeing you.

Joann sniffles again as she looks back at her husband. "It's almost as if he's been possessed."

That simply statement makes everything immediately click.

"Steve, can I talk to you for a minute?," you ask as you move to the hallway outside the viewing room.

Steve follows you and, sensing that you have an idea, waits for you to get your thoughts in order.

"Okay, so you know how Joann just said that it's like he's possessed?," Steve nods, "That got me thinking, what if he's being controlled by a chip like I was?" Steve nods ponderingly.

"It would make sense. He became a mutant after he disappeared and is taking part in crimes that the person closest to him is convinced he would never commit. That might also explain why he keeps staring at you. Hydra probably has a bounty on your head. Hmm… How about we ask his wife for permission to give him an x-ray? That way, we'll know for sure." You nod and follow Steve back into the room.

A few hours later, Steve assembles everyone in the common room after getting Joann settled in a hotel down the street. Once everyone has settled into a seat, he begins explaining your discoveries.

"After Joann arrived and saw her husband, she said something that _ drew to my attention. We had a hunch that Harvey might not be acting under his own direction, so we ran a few scans and found that he has a chip identical in design to _'s embedded in his brain. We have already explained his situation to Joann and she has given us permission to transport him to a hospital and have them perform the same operation that they performed on _. Once he has recovered, this could be a great opportunity to get even more information on Project Evolve."

Everyone nods in agreement. Who knows? Harvey might provide you with some information on Abyss's or even Dr. Hollow's whereabouts. Just the thought of them alone makes your blood boil. You have hated Dr. Hollow ever since he stole you off the streets, stripped you of your freedom, and forced you to kill, but despite all of that, your rage towards him does not compare in the slightest to what you feel for Abyss. By hurting your friends, she has incited a wrath so furious, so powerful, that if she ever slips up and comes into your clutches again, she won't come out alive.

A few days later, you and Nat go to visit a recuperating Harvey, who has been moved back to the tower. All the others have gone to fight a rampaging villain (Steve said something about a Captain Communism? You really don't know) a few blocks away. You enter Harvey's room to find him reading a book with his wife in a chair next to his bed, working on a crossword puzzle.

"Hello, Mr. Galloway, how are you feeling?" Nat asks.

"Fine, thank you, now that that god forsaken chip is gone," he turns to you with a look of gratitude, "Thank you for stopping me and bringing me here. It… it means a lot to me and my wife."

"It was my pleasure," you reply.

"Mrs. Galloway, could we have a few minutes alone with your husband?," Nat asks. Joann nods, gives her husband a quick kiss, and exits the room.

"Mr. Galloway-"

"Please, call me Harvey."

"Okay… Harvey, we'd like to ask you a few questions about your time in Project Evolve and the heist that Hydra forced you to pull."

"Sure, anything that I can do to help. What would you like to know?"

"There's actually something that I'd like to ask," you cut in, "Why did they have you send Tony out to attack the cops and not the cops themselves that they were sending in?"

"There are limitations to my powers. For example, I can't make someone kill themselves if they don't want to, their sense of self-preservation is too strong. That secretary in the vault, when I searched her, I had found medication for depression, so I knew that ordering her to… to hold a gun to her head would work," he pauses and takes a shaky breath, collecting himself before continuing, "I also couldn't make those police officers attack their comrades, especially since they'd only heard my voice over the loudspeaker and not in person. Iron Man, on the other hand, he had heard my voice and didn't have as strong a connection with the officers, so he was susceptible."

"But Tony didn't hesitate in fighting us when we arrived, and we're his friends."

"Once my powers get their hook in someone, that person can't stop. Once I had told him to… to kill anyone outside that was a threat, he had to keep going until he finished. I am so, so-"

"You don't have to apologize, Harvey," you interrupt, "I was once a part of Project Evolve as well. The Avengers managed to defeat me and get me out, but I still remember what it was like. None of what you did while you were under their control was your fault." He nods, not looking entirely convinced.

"Harvey, we need you to tell us as much as you can about your time with Hydra," Nat requests.

Harvey nods and begins recounting everything that he can remember about his base, where his superiors were at certain times, where guards were stationed and when they rotated shifts, who reported to who, and so on.

"Jarvis, did you get all of that?" Nat asks.

"I did and I have created a virtual map of Mr. Galloway's former base. Would you like to view it now or when Mr. Stark and the others return?"

"We can look at it later. Thanks, Jarvis."

"The pleasure is all mine."

"I think that's all we needed, Harvey. Thank you for your cooperation. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," Nat gets up and you begin to follow her towards the door.

"Actually there is one thing," Nat and you turn back to look at Harvey, "I've been in Hydra's control for months and the doctors told me yesterday that I'm well enough to go home. I'd like to see my house again and return to life as normal with my wife. Well, as normal as life can get when you're a mutant."

Nat nods. "I'll have to discuss it with Captain Rodgers, but I don't see why not. We can get you back home by tonight."

You follow Nat out the door and find Joann a few doors down the hall. After telling her that you're finished, she thanks you and returns to her husband's room.

"It'll be a bit dangerous for them to return home, don't you think?," you ask Nat as you hear the door to Harvey's room click shut.

"Yeah, that's why we're going to have someone go with them."

"For how long? Hydra will never stop chasing them. He's an asset and a security breach, just like me. Probably the only reason that they haven't come after me again is that I'm surrounded by Avengers 24/7. It'll be suicide for them to leave."

"Well, we can't keep them prisoner here. If he wants to go home, I say let's allow them to go home, at least until we have something else figured out."

Steve and the others make it back to the tower a few hours later. Tony and Clint, of course, are teasing Steve mercilessly when they arrive.

"Dude, you socked Hitler in the jaw more times than I can count and fought entire armies of Nazis, and yet you had trouble taking down a single little powered communist? That's just sad," Clint says with a smirk.

"Hey, that guy had a tight grip. And besides, I didn't see you helping, Barton."

"Hey, don't pick on Mockingjay," says Tony, coming to the rescue of his partner in crime, "He couldn't get an arrow in edgewise around these things," he pokes Steve's bicep, "How do you even get these things to be so big? I mean, it can't _all_ be my dad's formula. What do you use, power shakes, lead weights, camel steroids?"

"You're just jealous, Stark," you quip as they enter the room. Tony purses his lips and hums thoughtfully.

"Umm…. Nope, don't think I am," he grins.

"I'm surrounded by children," Nat sighs, "Steve, we need to talk to you about Harvey's situation. The doctors have cleared him to go home, but we all know that that isn't going to be the safest course of action. We can't keep them here, so I was thinking that we could send someone with them, at least until we can figure out a solution that won't get them killed."

Steve nods. "We can send them home right now, even. Jarvis, please bring the Quinn jet up to the roof. Thor, I'm going to send you with them. We'll try to figure out another situation as quickly as we can. I'm thinking that I might be able to call in some favors and get them into the witness protection program, but we might have to come up with something else."

"It would be my pleasure to accompany them and guard them against Hydra's minions. I will contact you if any have the stupidity to stage an attack."

Steve nods, still a bit worried, but confidant in Thor's capability.

"I'll go and get Mr. and Mrs. Galloway and tell them that we can take them home as soon as the jet gets here."

A few minutes later, Mr. Galloway has changed out of his hospital gown into some clothes that his wife brought and Jarvis had announced that the jet has arrived and is landing on the roof. Thor leads the couple up to the roof and after a minute or two, you can see the jet take off and fly into the distance from the common room window.

By this time, the sun has set and you're barely beating sleep back. You yawn widely, popping your jaw.

"Go on and get some shut-eye," Steve says with a kind smile, addressing the rest of the Avengers as well, "Tony and I are going to stay up researching a solution for Harvey's situation. We'll call you if we need any of you to help."

You roll your eyes, knowing that Steve would never wake any of you up for something as trivial as research, even if it is important research. You shuffle to your room and quickly change into a large t-shirt (they had removed the camera in your room a while ago to give you more privacy, so you don't have to worry about Tony looking in on you for kicks) before falling into your bed and a dreamless sleep.

Somewhere around midnight, your sleep is interrupted by Jarvis.

"I regret having to wake you, Miss _, but something has happened at the Galloway residence. Captain Rodgers is requesting for everyone to suit up and rendezvous with him on the roof."

You rub the sleep from your eyes and hastily get dressed in your usual jeans and t-shirt.

"Man, I really need a proper suit," you mumble to your rumpled reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Within minutes, you arrive at the roof to find Steve and the others standing in front of the Quinn jet. Steve, with his shield strapped to his back and a grim expression occupying his face, begins to explain why he woke you up at such an ungodly hour.

"There's been an explosion at Mr. and Mrs. Galloway's home. Jarvis was monitoring local traffic cameras at the time and alerted me immediately, so we will probably arrive just after the emergency services. I'll continue to brief you on the journey there," you all climb into the Quinn jet, which takes off and starts heading south.

"When we arrive on the scene, do not impede the local authorities, but I want all of you to help shift the rubble and search for survivors. _, I want you to scan it, see if anyone is breathing and where. If not, we'll start searching for… for the bodies," Steve clears his throat, regaining his composure, "Tony, you're suit will help with any heavy lifting. Bruce, we won't need the Hulk for this one, so I'm putting you in charge of explaining the situation to the police. Don't mention Project Evolve, but do explain how Hydra was after the residents of the house. Nat and Clint, you'll help with searching for survivors as well. I want you all to understand, Harvey and Joann probably didn't make it. They were human and therefore fragile, especially in the condition that Harvey was in. I also want to point out that while Thor is incredibly powerful, he is not immortal. I want you all to prepare yourselves for a worst case scenario."

Your shoulders sag, feeling the weight of the situation and of the possibility that Steve has just laid out in front of you.

"Hey, Dorito, don't read the eulogy yet," Clint says, "Thor can take care of himself. I'm sure he's just fine." No once looks convinced. Hell, even Clint doesn't seem convinced.

When the jet touches down just outside the circle of flashing red, blue, and white lights on the suburban street, everyone immediately gets to work. Bruce goes over to the police and begins to explain the situation while everyone else follows you towards the pile of rubble that had once been a home. Steve clears the wreckage of police and firemen, making sure that you won't have any distractions. Once everyone is out, you begin searching. It takes only a minute to locate Thor on the outskirts of the pile, his heartbeat coming from under four feet of support beams, pipes, and disintegrated plaster. To your sadness, Harvey's and Joann's are nowhere to be found. Either Hydra took them, or there just aren't any heartbeats to hear.

Your fellow Avengers help you to dig Thor out first while the officers and firefighters go back to searching for the other bodies. His breathing is shallow and he's unconscious, but you don't see anything broken or bleeding, so he'll live. Tony carries him over to the EMTs while the rest of you, even Dr. Banner, help to search for Harvey and Joann. One of the fire fighters tries to get Bruce to leave, bet he isn't having any of it.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave the scene. We don't want you getting hurt."

"Kid, I've been in more life-or-death battles than you will in your entire lifetime, even if you do fight giant, blazing infernos for a living. I think that I can handle myself."

After half an hour of searching, Clint finds Mr. and Mrs. Galloway under the twisted frame of their bed. Clint carefully lifts Harvey's body as you take Joann's and you both carefully maneuver through the collapsed walls to the sidewalk, where you gently lay them in the body bags that the police have set out. A group of officers zip the bags closed over the slack, lifeless faces of the man you had only just saved a few days ago and his wife, before loading them into an ambulance to be taken to the morgue.

You follow Clint to rejoin the others and a newly-conscious Thor.

"I am sorry, my friends. It is my fault that Lady Galloway and her husband are dead. If I had only been more vigilant…"

"It not your fault, Thor," you assure him, "You did your best."

"Don't worry, Hydra will pay," Steve looks ready to take down a thousand Hydra agents right then and there. "They're going to be sorry that they ever laid a finger on the Galloways."

 _My thoughts exactly._


	12. Introduced (Again)

"Sorry, but why are we doing this, again?," you ask as you peer at the gathering reporters from behind the door next to the press conference. "The longer we wait, the more opportunity Hydra has to clear out that base. Hell, they're probably already long gone."

"Well, then waiting a few more hours won't hurt anything," Steve replies, "Besides, it'll be easier if we attack at night. There'll be less chance of them seeing us. Also, the public has been scrambling for answers and there have been wilder and wilder speculations each passing day about why Tony attacked the officers at that bank. We need to set the record straight."

You nod, understanding the importance of giving people answers, yet chaffing at the idea that every minute spent here is another minute allowing Hydra agents the opportunity to escape. While you had only acquired the location of the base yesterday, Harvey had been in the Avengers' custody for several days. Hydra must have known that you would find a way of removing the chip, so they might have cleared out as soon as you had carried him out of that bank. Hydra's leaders might be twisted and cruel, but they aren't stupid.

"It's time." Steve leads the rest of you out and up onto the stage where a long table, complete with uncomfortable chairs and bottles of water, has been set up. Steve take a seat in the middle of the table with Nat, Clint, and Thor on his left and Bruce, Tony, and you on his right. You chuckle at Bruce and Tony. While everyone else is in nice casual clothes, Bruce is in his usually sweat pants and sweat shirt and Tony is done up in a suit, complete with tie. The fact that they are sitting right next to each other makes the scene even more comical.

You turn your attention back to the reporters in front of you, swallowing nervously as Steve begins the conference.

"As you all know, on the fifth of this month a robbery took place at the bank on 23rd street. During this robbery, the perpetrator was trapped inside by the police, who were unable to enter due to the fact that this man was a mutant and could control other people through verbal commands." The reporters begin to murmur and whisper to each other in uneasiness. Steve waits until they calm down before continuing. "We sent Mr. Stark in, believing that his suit would prevent the man's voice from reaching him and therefore making him immune to his powers. We were wrong, however, and the man was able to control Stark and order him to attack the police officers outside the bank. I arrived with our newest recruit, _," he gestures towards your seat at the end of the table, briefly drawing the attention in the room to you, "just in time to stop him from injuring anyone. We then sent _ into the bank, where she was able to neutralize the threat within minutes. After a thorough investigation, in which we discovered that the man's name was Harvey Galloway, and an x-ray authorized by Mr. Galloway's wife, we determined that the man was, in fact, acting under Hydra's orders."

This last statement set the reporters off again and it was a few minutes before the murmurs and exclamations died down enough for Steve to continue.

"We discovered that Hydra was using a computer chip that they had implanted in Mr. Galloway's brain to control him and force him to obey their orders. The man was like a flesh-and-blood robot and should not be blamed for his actions." He levels a hard stare at the audience to make sure that they understood before continuing, "We were able to remove the chip and in the absence of Hydra's control, he was more than willing to share any and all information that he had on Hydra. Unfortunately, he was unable to provide us with the location of the base that he was stationed at."

Before the conference, you had all discussed how much information you should reveal and had unanimously decided to not let on that you know the location of the base. If Hydra thinks that you don't know where Harvey's base is, they might be more likely to let their guard down. You had also agreed to not talk about Project Evolve and your participation in it. If the public knew that Hydra is creating evil, mutant super soldiers, there would be widespread panic and paranoia, all of it aimed at the mutant population. The resultant violence would be catastrophic.

"Once he recovered from his operation, Mr. Galloway requested permission to return home with his wife, Joann. We agreed, as long as we could send Thor with them as protection in case Hydra decided to try and take Harvey back. Unfortunately, despite Thor's best efforts, the Galloway home was demolished by an explosion in the middle of the night, which we believe was Hydra's doing. Thor survived with minor injuries, but the Galloways were not as lucky. We will continue to attempt to thwart Hydra's plans and get justice for Mr. and Mrs. Galloway," he pauses for a moment, "Are there any questions?"

Almost every reporter's hand shoots up and they begin jostling for attention. Steve points to a tall, balding man in a grey suit near the front of the mass of yelling reporters. He stands up as the rest quiet down, listening eagerly.

"What actions are you taking towards finding and destroying Hydra bases?"

"Well, before the bank robbery, we were searching global social media and new networks for mentions of Hydra activity," Bruce answers, "but now that we have Mr. Galloway's chip, we might be able to track whatever signal it was receiving back to its source, therefore allowing us to find Mr. Galloway's base. Who knows, we might even be able to get the location of several Hydra bases. This, of course, will take some time, maybe weeks." There's no need to make Hydra _too_ nervous.

Steve nods his thanks to Bruce. "Next question. You," he points to a woman with long, red hair pulled up in a bun.

"My question is for your newest member. I know that there has been news footage of you are the other Avengers, but we're all still terribly curious. Who are you and what can you do?"

You clear your throat nervously before answering. "Well, as Captain Rodgers said, my name is _. I recently took on the name Supernova, just as Mr. Stark has taken the name Iron Man and Miss Romanov has taken the name Black Widow. I am a mutant and I can control light and sound."

A man near the back of the room stands up as the female reporter takes her seat. "Could we have a small demonstration of your powers?"

You nod and a moment later, you're invisible. A collective gasp runs through the room, causing the other Avengers to grin and chuckle at your antics. You restore your visibility, earning applause from the reporters.

"That isn't all that I can do," you clear your throat and adopt the voice of the reporter who asked for a demonstration, "I can also manipulate my voice to sound like someone else." You restore your voice to normal, finding it unsettling to hear a man's voice coming from your own mouth. "I can also shoot lasers from the palms of my hands, but I'll not demonstrate that, for obvious reasons." You decide to keep your other tricks up your sleeves. There's no need to show your whole hand to the entire world.

"Show off," Tony mutters from your left, earning himself a kick, which is hidden from the audience by the cloth draped over the table.

"Any more questions?" Steve asks. He points to a reporter to the far left.

"I have another question for Miss _. What did you do before you joined the Avengers? Also, do you have a last name? I haven't heard one this entire time."

"Well…," you pause, slightly uncertain of how to precede, "You see, I don't exactly have one. I was an orphan living on the streets before the Avengers found me. I had been kidnapped by Hydra, who had been experimenting on me. When the Avengers raided their base, they found me and took me in. I'll have to admit, they didn't trust me very much at first, but after a while and some close calls, they've become like a family to me. I'm very thankful to be a part of this team." The reporter nods, a smile on her face as she sits back down.

Steve glances at the clock before asking for one last question.

A very flamboyant reporter in a hideous blue suit near the back stands up. "Hi, it's me again, Mr. Smith from _Superhero Today_ ," you see Tony roll his eyes, which most likely means that this guy isn't very popular, "My question is for Miss Romanov and Mr. Barton. It seems as if you two have been very close for a while now. Our subscribers would like to know, are you two in a relationship yet, are we going to hear wedding bells anytime soon? I mean, the tension is positively _killing_ us!"

You look down the table and have to suppress a laugh as Nat and Clint's faces turn a dark shade of red.

"We're not-"

"We aren't-"

"We've never been-"

"What they mean to say", Steve cuts in, "Is that they are not in a relationship and that our time is up."

The reporters shoot to their feet and begin jostling each other, yelling unanswered questions as you file back through the door beside the stage into the hallway. As the door clicks shut behind Clint, Tony turns on him and begins mercilessly teasing him and Nat.

"You know, I think that I _can_ hear wedding bells! Do you have a dress picked out, Clinty? Can I be the best man?"

You start chuckling, which turns into a full-body laugh as Tony makes the mistake of starting to sing "Clint and Natasha, sitting in a tree", which earns him a kick to the jewels from Nat.

 _God_ , you love your family.


	13. Enraged

The hover slowly descends in stealth mode, jolting to a stop as it settles on the sparse grass half a mile away from the Hydra base that was once Harvey Galloway's prison. You quickly follow Steve and the others out of the hatch into a small clearing surrounded by forest. Stretching, you look up at the clouded sky as you try to relieve some of the stressful tension in your back. No matter how many times you do this, you don't think that you'll ever be completely used to combat.

"Alright, spread out," Steve commands. You form a long line along the forest's edge and begin advancing through the trees towards the base in the distance, close enough to each other to provide any needed assistance, but far enough away that Hydra wouldn't take you all out at once if they were to attack.

Throughout the trek, your senses are on high alert, listening for the sounds of ticking bombs or rocket-propelled grenades or the thudding footsteps of Hydra personnel approaching. The sound that you do hear about halfway through your march, a soft _twang_ , provokes confusion rather than worry.

"My friends, I am sorry. It seems as if I have blundered through a trip wire," Thor apologizes sheepishly from the end of the line.

 _Great._

Even without your powers, you can hear the blaring alarm and rumble of engines in the distance. Looks like Hydra's leaders are even more arrogant than you thought, if they didn't even bother to clear out.

"Here they come!", Steve bellows as nine trucks of Hydra personnel roar through the woods toward you, machine guns whirring as they select their targets and prepare to fire. Bruce, who hadn't hulked out yet due to the need for stealth, finally lets the other guy out. With a roar, the Hulk jumps, smashing through the trees as he bitch slaps one of the trucks back the way it came, pounding the ground with his fists before chasing after it. Tony takes to the air, blasting agents as they jump off of the moving trucks and advance towards your friends. Thor manages to blast one more of the trucks out of commission before they're among you, firing every which way and shedding Hydra agents like fleas.

The next few minutes are a blur of burning rubber, yells, and bullets as you dodge a truck here, scream at a supersonic frequency there. Your senses are on high alert as you watch your own back as well as your friends'. After what seems like mere seconds of combat, you spin around, your chest heaving, only to find your friends in similar states standing among the bodies of Hydra personnel and the smoldering wreckage of nine trucks scattered on the forest floor. Once you have finished hog tying all of the agents, everyone turns to Steve for your next move.

He glances around and nods, "Come on."

You all follow Steve towards the compound, not meeting any more resistance as you pass through the tree line into the clearing that contains the base. Well, more like the base's entrance rather than the base itself. On the other side of the clearing, a plain dirt road breaks through the trees, leading straight to a ramp that is recessed into the ground with a pair of loading bay doors at the bottom. From the information that you gained from Harvey, you know that below the loading bay, which is right under the surface of the clearing, there are several levels of weapons storage, labs, and torture chambers. Despite the facility being large enough to house hundreds of Hydra agents, you had only faced about forty five back in the forest and there are no guards outside the entrance, which begs the question, _Where are the rest of them?_

"We are _so_ walking into a trap", Tony mutters.

"No shit, Sherlock," Clint mutters back.

Steve sighs. "Alright, Hulk, you stand guard out here. You never know when reinforcements could arrive. Nat, you and I will head to the control room, scrounge up as much information as we can. Tony, _, go secure the weapons storage. I want you to make sure that there's nothing that we should be concerned about, then lock it up tight. I don't want any stragglers to be able to easily arm themselves. Clint, Thor, you take the labs. Be on your toes and keep the channels open. They already know we're here, so there isn't really a need for radio silence."

You carefully follow Steve down the ramp and everyone pauses at the doors as you feel the room beyond them. Unfortunately, you can't examine the entire base due to the thickness of the walls, otherwise you would be able to give the location of every single Hydra agent in the entire base. Closing your eyes, you extend your mind through the metal doors into the open space beyond. You expand your thoughts to fill every nook and cranny of the loading dock, sliding them over and through every sound wave, which fill the room like the web of a million drunk spiders. One by one, you quickly trace every vibration back to its source until you have a three dimensional map of the room and its occupants in your head.

Your eyes flick open and you quickly relay your findings to your teammates.

"The room is about the size of a basketball court. To the right and left are stacks of boxes, each concealing one sniper. There are metal walkways on the ceiling that are completely in shadow. Three more snipers are camped out up there. There are three freight elevators on the other side of the room, which are each holding ten Hydra agents. Finally, behind a box in the right corner closest to us is an agent preparing to hit what looks like a button on the wall. I can also detect a very large pit of spikes around 10 feet in diameter that is under the floor right behind these doors. I'm assuming that the button will activate the trap door for that, but I can't be sure."

Steve nods. He quickly gives out assignments, keeping his voice hushed, "Good work, _. Okay, Thor and Tony, we aren't even going to bother opening these doors. I want you to blast right in, staying off of the floor, and take out the agent on the button and snipers as soon as you get in there. We'll be right behind you to take out the agents in the elevators. Hulk, I still want you to stay out here. For all we know, there might be some back entrance that we don't know about and I don't want to risk troops sneaking up from behind." The Hulk grunts, conveying his understanding.

You all get in position, Thor whirling his hammer in anticipation. With a wave of Steve's hand, you spring into action. Tony and Thor crash through the metal doors, causing one of the Hydra agents inside to let out a very high-pitched scream. You, Steve, Nat, and Clint charge in behind them just as they take out the final sniper and the doors to the elevators begin to open. Hydra agents rush into the room, firing round after round at you and your friends, yet every single bullet either misses entirely or is deflected. You attack here, dodge there, watch someone else's back, attack again. Put that way, it may seem monotonous, but it's anything but. It's exhilarating, exciting, your blood pounding though your head and your veins, proving every single second that you are alive and still kicking. With your senses heightened by the adrenaline pulsing though you, you can also hear the heartbeats of your friends, beating together in a wild, chaotic rhythm. It's moments like this that you wouldn't trade for anything. This battle is even shorter than the last one and after securing all of the agents with zip ties, you head down to the weapons bunker with Tony.

Every once in a while, you encounter groups of three to five Hydra agents roaming the compound and each group is easily taken out and handcuffed. After several elevator rides and turns down hallways that all look the same, you finally reach the weapons bunker. A quick search of the medium-sized room reveals nothing to be worried about, so Tony hacks the locking system and seals the doors permanently. You fuse them together with a laser for good measure. Now, someone would have to melt through two layers of titanium in order to get inside.

You com the others as you follow Tony along your route back to the surface.

"Tony and I sealed the weapons locker, which just had an assortment of guns and explosives, nothing really to worry about."

"Good work you guys," Steve responds, "Clint, Thor, how are you two doing with the labs?"

"We just finished rounding up the scientists that we found down here trying to save their research, four in all," Clint responds. "It seems as if it's all Project Evolve stuff, x-gene data and whatnot. We're escorting one of them up with us since he's too dangerous to leave unattended, but before I do that, I'm going to need _ to promise that she won't kill him."

"Why the hell would I do that?" you ask incredulously. You have a sneaking suspicion of who it could be, but that would be impossible. Surely, Hydra would have gotten him out the second that they knew we were here.

"You'll see, you just have to promise me that you won't kick his skull in."

"Fine, I won't," you reply.

After a few more minutes of walking, you arrive at the surface where the other Avengers have already gathered. Clint is turned away from you with his hand on the shoulder of a man in a lab coat with his hands cuffed behind his back. Despite being surrounded by angry Avengers and stared down by the Hulk, his posture is incredibly relaxed. Hearing your approaching footsteps, he turns towards you with the dead smile that you had always hated. Seeing Dr. Hollows face for the first time since your liberation, you stop short, your face livid with barely suppressed rage.

"Why hello, Agent _. It's a pleasure to see you again."

You have lost your ability to even answer, fear and anger pumping through your veins as you stare at the man who turned you into a monster, who forced you to kill innocent people over and over and over again. This is the man who is in charge of the entire Evolve program, who probably sicked Abyss on your friends, your _family_. This is the man that made Steela believe that you were _dead_. For a second, you almost break your promise to Clint, but then you feel Tony's iron-clad hand on your shoulder, relaxing you ever so slightly as you glance back at him. His face plate is up, allowing him to give you a kind, understanding look before resuming his hateful stare at Dr. Hollow.

"I've already called the local police and the federal government," Steve says, trying to defuse the situation, "They'll be here shortly to clean up the rest of the Hydra agents. Nat and I were able to get the location of several more bases out of the computers in the control room and Clint and Thor were able to get information on Project Evolve from the labs. We're only staying around long enough to personally hand this slime ball over to the feds, and then we're heading back to the tower."

"Ow, that hurts my feelings, Captain," Dr. Hollow pouts, "You aren't still mad about Abyss almost killing you and your little friends, are you?" He grins maniacally. "She did survive, you know," he gloats as he turns his dead eyes towards you, "She can't wait to come back and kill your friends slowly, one by one, while you watch. She really is quite impatient," he chuckles mirthlessly. It's that final insinuation that he's going to come after your family again that makes you snap. You fly at him with a roar, too angry to even properly use you powers as you rain blow after blow on his face. When you feel several pairs of hands attempt to pull you off, you blindly send a shockwave in all directions, throwing your friends several feet into the air and back. You mind is in turmoil and can only focus on one goal: hurt the man who has threatened your family.

You pull your arm back to punch him again, but a large green fist wraps around your forearm instead, halting your blow. You snarl and whip around, but stop and stare as your mind registers that the expression on the Hulk's face is not anger or rage, as it usually is, but understanding.

"Not worth it," he rumbles with a shake of his head, which is the first time you have ever heard the Hulk speak.

You stare for a moment longer before stumbling a few steps away from everyone, shamefully clutching your head, your back hunched as you finally regain your senses. You hug yourself and turn to face everyone, but don't make eye contact as you apologize.

"I'm… I'm sorry, everyone. I know what happened. I... I'll just… I'll stay here until the police arrive. I'll tell them what I did when I was with Hydra and I'll go to jail for it. If I can lose control this easily, then I'm probably much more of a threat to you than you all think and I don't deserve to stay with you." A few silent teasr drop down your face and you hastily swipe them away. "I mean, you don't just kill people for two whole years without becoming a monster, right?" Your voice breaks on the last word, so you shut up before you can make a fool of yourself. You stand silently, waiting for them to tell you you're right, to cuff you like they did with the other Hydra agents. You're so convinced that your apology will be met with anger that you flinch violently when Nat steps forward and pulls you into her arms.

"We're all monsters, _," she says as you clutch at her suit and begin to shake with exhaustion and relief, tears streaking your face. "I used to kill for the Soviets, Clint used to kill for Shield, Bruce turns into a green, rampaging giant when he's angry. We've all killed people, _. Some of them might have even been good, innocent people. What matters isn't what you used to do, it's what you're doing now, and even that doesn't define who you are. You're a good person, _, and don't you ever forget that."

You take a few moments to compose yourself before pulling away, sniffling as you wipe the tears from your face.

"Thanks, Nat. I really don't know what I would do without any of you," you say as your gaze sweeps over your family.

"Right back at you, Rudolph," Clint says with a grin as the first police helicopters come into view over the trees.


	14. Delighted

Tony sighs, plopping down on the couch before flipping on the news and propping his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. He sips his coffee, ruminating on the idiocy of pulling three all-nighters in a row. He had been working on a new upgrade to his suit and that combined with running scans for more Evolve activity had captured his attention so completely that he hadn't even registered the slightest hint of exhaustion. Well, the thousand gallons of caffeine that he had ingested might have helped with that as well.

Suddenly, a hand and arm, wrapped in the sleeve of an over-sized sweatshirt, enters his vision and knocks his feet from the table. Turning, Tony frowns at Bruce as he settles onto the couch next to him and begins flipping through channels.

"And why, might I ask, can't I have my feet on the table?" Tony asks.

"Because," Banner responds, the side of his mouth curling up in a small smirk as he continues to click the remote. He finally settles on a news station when he notices the subject of the footage that they're showing.

"Wonderful," Tony grumbles. "As if I need to remember _this_ jackass." The footage is from last week and it shows Tony, Steve, and you fighting a man who's wearing what looks like a medieval suit of armor with flame-throwers attached to the arms. In fact, that's exactly what it is. The villain had called himself The Iron Man, much to Tony's displeasure.

"There can only be _one_ Iron Man. I mean, that guy couldn't even do a decent welding job!"

You appear on-screen, dodging The Iron Man's flame throwers before sending a shockwave at him that shoves him several feet back. Tony swoops overhead, firing a few repulsor blasts at him before Steve's shield flies in from off-camera and knocks one of the flame throwers out of commission. Tony notes how ridiculous you look in your t-shirt and jeans next to Cap's star-spangled monstrosity and his own beautifully designed suit.

The same thoughts are running through Bruce's mind, although they are worded a bit differently.

"We should really get _ a suit soon. I know she's tough, but she really needs more protection than a few layers of fabric."

"Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. Hmmm…." Tony's mouth twists to the side and his nose wrinkles, as it usually does when he's thinking. He picks up a tablet from the coffee table and begins tapping away. Bruce glances over his shoulder to find the basic design for a suit spread across the screen, which Tony is making more elaborate by the second. Suddenly, Bruce's forehead creases into a deep frown.

"Tony, you can't give her a cleavage window." He states.

"What? Why not?" Tony complains petulantly. "All female superheroes have them."

Bruce sighs. "Yeah, a lot of them do have them, but that doesn't mean that they should. Even if you don't see them as demeaning, you have to agree that they can be dangerous in a fight. They could provide a very useful handle for an attacker. Plus, the lack of armor could allow someone to put a blade, arrow, or laser right through her heart."

" _Fine_. And I suppose that you won't let me give her high heels, either?"

Bruce shakes his head. "I don't even know how Nat fights in those things. It's unnatural."

Using his supernatural strength, he threw her across the room with ease. Her body slammed into a stone pillar and although she definitely felt several bones break, she didn't care. She had to stop him before he could summon the dragon that would destroy the entire world.

She rose slowly and painfully, barely maintaining her grip on her sword as she turned to face the wizard.

"I _will_ stop you. You won't get away with this."

"Oh, but I will," he said with a narcissistic sneer, "You see, I've been getting away with murder and villainy for the past several centuries. It's been almost disappointingly easy."

"And what _have_ you been up to, you disgusting pile of rotten garbage?" Maybe, just maybe, she could keep him talking and he wouldn't have time to complete the spell before the end of the eclipse.

"Oh, that may have hurt my feelings." He began circling her, waiting for the right moment to strike. "But to answer your question, I've been here and there. I robbed a few people, stole the souls out of others. Although, my favorite acts of violence were always the spontaneous ones. I can remember one instance," he stops circling and strokes his beard, seeming to be deep in thought, but you don't let your guard down, "when I was visiting this quaint little village, a woman recognized me for who I was. She spit on me, which was not the smartest idea her little brain could conjure. In retaliation, I burned the entire place to the ground. Oh, what was the name of it? Ah!" A triumphant and infinitely evil look over took his face. "Now I remember! The little village was named Triticum."

She froze, boiling rage consuming her, erasing her pain and steadying her blade. This was the man that had destroyed her village and killed her parents. After hunting the wizard for years, now she has come to learn that their deaths were over a _mere slight_. She flew at him in a rage, but he easily batted her to the side before her sword could find his heart.

He leaned over her, kicking her blade away and holding her in place with a boot on her chest. With a malicious grin, he opened his mouth to continue gloating, ignoring her struggles as she writhed under his foot.

"Miss _, Tony requests that you meet him and the others down in the lab."

 _What?_

It takes you longer than you'd like to admit to figure out that the voice isn't the evil wizard in your book, but Jarvis speaking though the hidden speakers in the room where you are currently curled up with one of your favorite tales of fantasy and adventure.

You snap your book shut with only minor annoyance. Well… no, that's a lie. You are incredibly annoyed.

"Did Tony explain why it is so important to interrupt me while I'm reading my favorite book?" you sigh.

"I'm sorry, he did not. He did, however, request that you, and I quote, 'Keep your psychic tentacles away from the sheet in the center of the room. It's meant to be a surprise, so no spoilers.'"

"Alright, fine. Tell them I'm on my way, please."

Your curiosity is piqued so you set your book down on the couch and head towards the elevator. When you reach your destination, you find everyone leaning against the lab tables. Well, not everyone. Clint is sitting backwards in an office chair and spinning in circles like the child he is. In the middle of the room is what looks like a mannequin covered in a white sheet, which you don't examine despite your extreme inquisitiveness.

"What's up?" you ask as you clear a spot on one of the tables and hoist yourself onto it.

"Well, you've been on the team for a while now", Steve answers, "and the other day Tony and Bruce realized that you're still going on missions in jeans and a t-shirt."

"It's not what some of us would consider proper superhero behavior," Tony interjects. You give him a bitch face, but remain silent as you wait for Steve to continue.

"So, we brainstormed and had Tony whip something up," the man in question looks mildly offended at Steve's unappreciative wording, but Nat quietly shushes him before he can say anything.

"You don't mean…," you trail off with a wide grin, glancing at the sheet.

Steve nods with a smile as Clint stops his spinning and pulls the cloth away, revealing a beautifully made suit. It consists of what looks like light blue spandex with silver armor attached to it, but when you reach out to touch it, it feels tough, like lizard skin.

"I tried to make it as protective as possible," Tony explains. "That under-suit can withstand fire, lasers, blades, and a whole load of other nasties that I won't go into. It can also absorb shock, allowing you to fall a maximum height of 10 feet without any more than a few bruises."

The armor covers the chest, back, shoulders, midsection, knees, forearms, and thighs of the suit and is hinged, allowing for maximum mobility. Unlike the suits of some other female superheroes you knew of, yours isn't built for the enjoyment of men; it is completely without cleavage windows and the suit is actually functional and practical. Instead of heels, Tony has given you dark blue combat boots that come up to just under your knee and compliment the blue under suit very nicely. Finally, there are two dark blue stars on the suit: one on the neck and one on a belt around the hips of the suit. It is the most amazing thing that anyone has ever given you.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!", you exclaim as you tackle Tony with a hug. You quickly hug Steve and the others, thanking all of them before turning back to Tony with an excited grin.

"Can I try it on?"

He ruffles your hair and chuckles affectionately.

"Of course, kiddo."


	15. Revealed

"No, no, no, no!" you yell as five soldiers charging down the hole-riddled street spot you.

You let off a couple of shots, killing one, before sprinting down an alleyway, dodging in a zig zag pattern in order to make yourself a more difficult target. As you reach the end of the alley, you run around the corner and into a doorway, where you're faced with a flight of steps. You quickly scale them and when you reach the top, you find yourself in an empty room with broken windows and singe marks all over the walls. There's no escape in sight and you can't jump through the window, so you crouch in a corner by the door and wait for your pursuers to come charging in. Three soldiers run through in the next moment and you dispatch them all in rapid succession. You're waiting for the fourth when you hear a loud crack. The next millisecond, a bullet enters through the window and buries itself in your skull, causing you to collapse to the floor like a puppet that's had its strings cut.

"Boom! Headshot!" Clint whoops in triumph from the other side of the couch. You're sitting in front of multiple screens showing the perspectives of three players, their guns large in the foreground. All the way on the left is a fourth screen flashing your "game over" for everyone to see.

"Ok, I'm calling hacks," Tony whines as he mashes buttons frantically, "And how the _frick_ are you doing that, Rodgers!? You're 25 and _0_! You were _frozen_ when videogames were invented!"

"Military training," Steve deadpans as he takes out five more virtual soldiers with a single grenade. "Plus, the other team sucks."

"Welp, I'm dead. You're on your own, Stark," you sigh as you let your controller fall to your lap.

"What do you mean, _I'm on my own_? I have 15 other players backing me up."

"Yeah, but as Steve said, they suck like whores."

"Language!" Clint yells over the loud booms of sniper rifle fire.

"Sorry, buddy, but you're gonna die," you state as you pat Tony on the shoulder. The game is over within minutes with Steve at the top of the leaderboard. Clint is just below him with 26 kills to Steve's 36 due to the fact that he had refused to switch out his sniper rifle for the entire game.

"You guys up for another game?" Tony asks as he clicks back to the main menu.

"Sorry, not sorry, Stark, but I was actually wondering if _ would like to go shopping with me, instead," says a voice from the doorway behind you. You turn to see Nat standing in the hall, purse in hand.

"Sure!" you reply as you set your controller down on the couch and stretch. After some obscene popping sounds burst from your back, you feel limber enough to rise from your seat and join Nat.

"Awe, come on, _!" Clint whines. "Now we're not going to have any challenging opposition."

"I'm right here, Bird Boy," Tony says as he gives Clint an offended look. "Are you going to need glasses to match your hearing aids?" In response, Clint pulls out his phone, promptly turns off said hearing aids, and begins to play _My Heart Will Go On_ at full volume through the hidden speakers in the room.

"I think this is where we should take our leave," Nat yells over the music and Steve and Tony's screams. You both hurry down the hallway to the elevator. A few minutes later, you are exiting the lobby and heading towards one of Nat's favorite shops, which is only a few blocks away.

"I swear, they're aging backwards!" Nat complains. "They become more and more like children every day."

"Well, then I suppose the world's lucky that they have us to keep them in line," you say, earning one of Nat's rare laughs.

You push your hands into your empty pockets and suddenly realize something. "By the way, I don't have very much money, and no offence, but I doubt that you have much either, seeing as you don't work for the government anymore. How exactly are we paying for these clothes that we're going to buy?"

Nat slips a rectangular piece of plastic out of her purse and waves it in the air like a trophy. "One of Tony's credit cards," she declares triumphantly. "He really should keep these things in safer places than on the coffee table."

You chuckle and shake your head. The journey to the store passes quickly from there as you and Nat chat while you walk.

"So, how are you enjoying life as a true Avenger?"

You shrug. "It's not really that much different from regular life with you guys during those first few weeks. Tony's the same child that he always was, Steve's still a gentleman, and I'm still… _sick_ and _tired_ of people staring at me." You raise your voice slightly at that last statement and aim it at a group of teenagers standing in a doorway to your right. They look like the usual fuckboys that you would see clustered in pods in a high school hallway, not that you would know. They all have the same basketball shorts, the same snap-backs, the same know-it-all, superior expressions.

Smirking at your outburst, they go back to whatever they were talking about before they had spotted the scar that snakes along the left side of your face. You self-consciously reach up and touch it when it connects to the corner of your mouth as you once again fall into step beside Nat. Whenever you're with one of the Avengers, you completely forget about the scar, and before them, you had bigger problems than an imperfect face, but before the business with Hydra, you had always hated your scar. It had been one of the main reasons that you had had extreme difficulty in getting adopted and when you were on the streets, it was a source of constant embarrassment and anger. Mothers would pull their children to the other side of the street in order to avoid you. Passersby would either stare or glance at you and then put their head down and try not to make eye contact as they rushed past you. You could never decide which reaction was worse. After so much time in the tower with people that could care less about your physical imperfections, you had almost begun to wonder why you had ever hated it in the first place. It's amazing how a few people staring at you can make reality come crashing down around your ears.

"Hey, you okay?" Nat asks, bringing you back to the present.

"Yeah, I'm fine," you say as you let your hand drop back to your side. "Just thinking."

"Mm," Nat hums. "Yeah, sure. If it helps at all, we've all got scars."

You stare at her in surprise. You've been living with these guys for how many weeks now? Sure, you've seen wounds, but you've never seen scars. Their skin seemed so perfect that you'd always assumed that Tony worked some sort of scientific magic on them to erase the scars after their wounds healed. You had always considered asking him to do the same for you, but you were afraid of sounding too obnoxious or needy.

"Really? Where?" You ask, realizing too late that that question might be a bit too personal. "Well, I mean-"

"It's all right," Nat interrupts with a chuckle. "I have one right here," she points to a spot on her ribs, "from a sniper. I know that Tony has a few from the shrapnel that entered his chest when he was attacked by those terrorists and Steve has some bullet wounds on his legs where his shield doesn't cover him. Clint has a few cuts and holes that I know of. I don't know about Banner and Thor, but I'm sure that even a god can get scars."

You shake your head in wonder. "You know, this really shouldn't come as a surprise to me, considering what we all do for a living, but you never really think about the aftermath. I mean, I've _seen_ the aftermath, but I've never really _thought_ about it before. I've seen a few of you get hurt before, seen you get stitched up, but it's almost like you're untouchable. It's crazy, but I've always thought of you guys as invincible, un-markable."

She laughs again. Wow, two in a row. "It may seem that way, _, but we're only human. Well… some of us are. We can be hurt just the same as everyone else. And your scars are nothing to be ashamed of." She peers at you as you near your destination, her eyes conveying her sincerity. "They show just how much you've prevailed over. It doesn't hurt that they make you look like a total badass, either."

A laugh explodes from your lips, drawing glances from passing pedestrians, but you don't care anymore.

"Thanks, Nat."

"Anytime," she replies as you enter the store.

You stare at the pile of clothing on your bed in dismay. Shopping can be incredibly fun, especially when you have a seemingly limitless supply of cash, but finding places to put everything afterwards can be a pain in the butt. After spending three hours going from store to store, you and Nat were so weighted down with bags that you had to catch a cab in order to get back to the tower. Now, all you have is a small bedside table and a dresser that Tony bought you last week to store this huge pile in. You really should ask for a room with a closet, but you could never leave this one. It was your first impression of the tower. Also, you wouldn't trade the view from your window for anything.

You're gazing through that window at the setting sun and the artist's pallet around it when you hear someone rap their knuckles on the doorway behind you. You turn to see Tony leaning against the wall, a small smile on his face.

"Wow, is everyone a ninja around here?" you ask. "I swear, even with my powers, someone always manages to sneak up on me."

"Yeah, I trained for twenty years, jumping on posts and waxing cars to become a master in the martial arts." He rolls his eyes. "I came in here to ask you if you've seen my...oh," he pauses as he sees the huge pile of clothing on your bed, "So that's where my credit card went."

You hold up your hands in mock defense. "Hey, it was Nat that took it, not me."

"No, it's fine," he says as he waves you off. "I live to serve. I'm also apparently everyone's personal source of income around here, since none of you deadbeats can get a steady job." He smiles to take the sting out of his words as he meanders over to the foot of your bed and pokes the pile. "I must say, I'm impressed. This is almost as much as my usual haul. Where did you…" He trails off as he spots something on your bedside table. He stares for a few seconds before slowly walking around your bed.

"Tony, is everything okay?" you ask as he picks up your mother's photo. You bought a simple, wooden frame for it while you were out with Nat and the first thing you did when you got home was to properly frame the photo that had been living in dirty pockets for years. It felt only right that your mom should get a proper home, too.

"Is this you?" he asks as he points to the small bundle in your mother's arms.

"Yep. I was tiny, wasn't I?" You walk around to stand behind Tony. "That's my mom, obviously. Her name was Clara, or at least that's what the headmistress told me." Tony jumps a bit when you say her name, but you just assume that it's his reaction to you appearing behind him.

He clears his throat before attempting to speak. "She looks just like you."

"Really?" You had never noticed before.

He turns to face you. "Yeah." He glances between the photo and you. "Same hair, same chin, same eyes. You could be sisters if you were just a few year older." You grin at his analysis. "And there! Same smile," he states triumphantly. His smile cracks a bit as he glances back down at the photo. "I… I don't see a father. Do you know…," He pauses awkwardly as you gently take the photo from his hands and examine it.

"Apparently, according to the headmistress again, my mom had a one-night-stand and I was the unexpected outcome. My father left my mother alone with me and with no way to raise me." You walk around Tony and place the photo gently back on the nightstand. "I have no idea what he looks like or if he ever really cared about my mother. I don't know if I'll ever completely forgive him, but over the past month, I think that I'm beginning to." You turn back to face Tony. "I mean, if he had been there, I would have never gone to the orphanage and I would have never gone through everything that I needed in order to meet you guys." You smile at Tony, who suddenly pulls you unto a hug.

"Whoa, Stark, didn't know that you could be so emotional," you laugh as you happily hug him back.

"I'm happy that you came here, too, _," he mumbles as he awkwardly steps back. "I'd better go find Nat now. You never know what havoc she could be wreaking with my card." Suddenly his cocky smile is back in place as if it had never been gone. He leaves the room to search for her and you shake your head, smileing wryly as you turn back to your previous predicament.

Out in the hallway, Tony has turned a corner and started pacing back and forth, carding his fingers through his hair with worry over his recent realization.

 _It couldn't be the same Clara_ , he thinks. _I mean, how many Clara's are in New York? A hundred? A hundred fifty? There has to be at least three Clara's that look similar in that crowd. It couldn't be the same Clara. You were_ careful _. It couldn't be the same Clara._ With that mantra in his head, he begins to head down to hallway, resuming his original search for Nat and firmly squashing down any doubt that your Clara could be his Clara. It's completely impossible.

He couldn't possibly have a daughter. Right?


	16. Avoided

**(A/N: Ok, so I know that I haven't written any author's notes yet, so… hello! First off, I just wanted to thank all of my reviewers and everyone who has read this story. You guys are the reason that I write and your enthusiasm always manages to make my day! I will be including some responses to reviews at the end, so anyone that commented can look there.)**

You watch the cashier's hands as he swipes the bag of peaches across the scanner with practiced precision, causing it to emit its signature beep. He holds one of them out, fingers splayed, for the credit card that you are holding. As you give him Tony's card, you feel a twisted pleasure at the fact that Tony's losing money because of you, even if it's a miniscule amount. That asshole deserves it. You also marvel at the fact that this man doesn't immediately recognize you as the thief that used to steal these very same fruits. He even chased you once or twice. Well… more like seven times, but who's counting? A month of good meals, showers, and sleeping on an actual mattress must do a lot for a person's appearance.

You exit the store and call a cab. You hop in as it pulls up in front of you and briefly consider telling the driver to go around the block for a few minutes just to waste even more money, but abandon that idea in favor of getting to your destination quickly. Fifteen minutes later, you step out onto the sidewalk outside of an apartment building. Last week, Steela called you in order to give you her address and tell you that you can come by any time you'd like, as long as it's not during her work hours, so that's exactly what you're doing today. You enter the building and navigate the crisscross of corridors until you arrive at apartment 112 and rap on the door. A few seconds later, it swings away from you, revealing Steela. Her face splits into a blinding smile and the laugh lines around her eyes bunch up when she sees that it's you. She gives you a quick, bone-crushing hug, which you melt into, smiling for what seems like the first time that day. The embrace ends too soon as she motions for you to enter.

"Come in, dear, come in! It's so good to see you."

You walk past her and place the peaches on the counter of her kitchenette before turning to survey the room. The apartment is small, with only three rooms, and has very sparse furniture and decorations. Despite this, it's infinitely better than the box that she was living a few years ago. The door opens into Steela's living room, which is occupied by a couch across from the door, a coffee table, and rickety table with two wooden chairs in the corner. On the right side of the room, where you're currently standing, is a kitchenette with a waist-high barrier separating it from the living room. To the left of the couch is a door leading to what seems like a small bathroom and on the left wall is the door to Steela's bedroom.

Steela motions for you to take a seat at the table as she creakily lowers herself into one of the chairs.

"So, how's the Avengers lifestyle?" she asks as you lower yourself onto the other seat with a tired sigh.

"It was good for a while, but…" you shake your head, "not so much now."

"What happened?" Steela queries in a no-nonsense tone as she leans forward and places her elbows on the table. Her eyes bore into you and convey the fact that she won't take an "it's nothing" or a "don't worry" as an answer. You lean back in your chair with a huff and run your hand over your face before letting it fall into your lap.

"Well, I guess I'd better start at the beginning. I first noticed something strange was going on the day after I got back from this shopping trip with Nat, who you know as Black Widow."

You walk into the kitchen after being woken rudely by Clint as he crashed out of the air duct in the ceiling of your room. You had let out a high-pitched screech and nearly let loose volley of lasers, but were able to restrain yourself before you could riddle him with holes. All he had to say before he ran out of your room like a cat from a litterbox was to remark on how Tony should really check the supports on the air ducts.

As soon as you enter the kitchen, Tony spots you from his seat at a table and hurries out of the room as if his half-eaten breakfast had suddenly come alive, saying something about an experiment he left running in the lab. This is only the first in an expansive series strange occurrence.

Over the next few days, you notice more and more how Tony seems to be avoiding you. At one point, you find him in the common room lounging in an armchair.

"Hey, Tin Man, want to go a few rounds on COD?" you ask, holding up a controller.

"Oh! _. Sorry, I have… stuff to do. Down in the lab. Very important, earth shattering discoveries to make." He quickly scoots around you and hurries down the hall out of sight.

The strangest thing, however, was how his attitude towards you would do a complete 180 when you were on missions. He wouldn't let you out of his sight if he could help it. Every time they would split up, he would request to partner with you. In every battle that you fought, he would be right behind you, protecting you and watching your back. This dedication to you was the last straw. With their eye in the sky constantly trained on you, the others had some very near misses, so you decided to cut the crap and confront Tony about his strange behavior, both for the other's and your own sanity's safety.

You finally managed to corner him down in the labs. You entered the room and knock on the doorframe to get his attention.

Without looking up from his microscope, Tony say, "Finally! Bruce, how long does it take to get coffee, buddy? You've been gone for the better part of forever."

Bruce, who is sitting across to room and tapping away at a screen, replies, "Tony, I got back ten minutes ago. Your coffee is right next to you and probably stone cold by now."

"Really?" Tony looks up from his microscope. "Then who's at the… oh." He swivels in his chair to see you standing just inside the doorway with your arms crossed and an amused look on your face.

"Bruce, could I talk to Tony in private for a few minutes?"

Bruce glances between you and Tony and, realizing that this could get awkward, quickly agrees and leaves the room.

"So! How can I be of service?" Tony asks. He smiles in an attempt to throw you off, but you can tell that he's nervous as he picks up a pen and begins to hastily jot down notes from his microscope.

You lean against the wall and level a piercing glare at the side of Tony's head. "Listen, I don't know how else to go about this, so I'll just say it as plainly as possible." Tony stops writing, but he still doesn't look at you as you're voice starts out calm, but slowly begins to rise with anger. "You've been avoiding me for several days now. You refuse to even give me the time of day. In fact, the only time that you actually spend any time with me is on missions, and then you blatantly endanger our friends by not taking your attention off of me for even a _second_." You're now pacing back and forth, running your hand through your hair in frustration. "Are you _trying_ to drive me insane?" You turn to Tony and wait for him to offer an explanation.

Tony stares at you blankly for a few seconds, a hint of panic in his eyes as he tries to form a response. He shakes himself out of his stupor and begins to jot down more notes. "Well, you see… I…" He sighs and leans on the table for several moments, his hands splayed, before slowly turning to face you with the sad resignation of a man who has accepted the fact that there is no escape from his current situation.

"I'll tell you everything. But first, I'm going to need a sample of your blood." His face is a mask of complete seriousness as yours screws up in confusion.

"What? Why?" you ask. "How does my blood pertain to this conversation in _any_ way?"

Tony holds up his hands in an attempt to placate you. "I realize that this isn't making any sense, but I need to be sure about this before I can explain. I swear, from the bottom of my shrapnel-riddled heart, just give me some blood and a few days and I'll explain everything."

On top of your mounting confusion, Tony's vagueness is now making you afraid as well. "Again, _why_ do you need some of my blood? Do you think that there's something wrong with me?" You think back over the last few days. You can't remember doing anything strange, but an outsider's perspective might have caught something that could account for Tony's avoidance of you.

"Other than the whole 'former agent of Hydra' thing? No, I think you're good." He gives you a small smile, testing the waters. Luckily for him, your confusion has distracted from your original anger and you no longer feel like biting his head off.

"Why can't you just tell me why you've been avoiding me?" You're frustration is beginning to build up again.

"I promise, I'll tell you everything in a week. And in the meantime, I'll try my hardest not to avoid you. And… I'm sorry for the way I've been acting lately." He seems to mean it.

You hesitate. Every ounce of you wants to continue your interrogation, but you force yourself to be patient. Tony's as stubborn as they come and if he doesn't want to give you an explanation, he won't, no matter what you do. You finally nod with a resigned sigh and Tony calls Banner back in to extract the sample of blood from your arm.

 **Guest, Kawaiicthulhu, joyce67831, Oreo Kayla, & Auntsarah: Thanks, I try! **

**AinsleyWright: I was planning for her to be his daughter from the beginning, but the fact that you hit it right on the nose by chapter eight was awesome! Thanks for reviewing!**

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	17. Revealed (Again)

A week later, Tony has stopped running out of the room every time you come through the door, although he's still awkward around you and continues to act like a mother hen on missions. You've been feeling impatient for a while and your curiosity is killing you, so you decide to hunt down Tony and see if he finally has decided to give you some answers.

"Hey Jarvis, do you know where I could find Tony?" you ask the ceiling. You can't help but look up every time you address the AI, even though he's technically everywhere, not just in the hidden speakers.

"Of course I do, Miss _. I know the location of every person in this building, but I sense that your true question is "Where can I find Master Stark?" He is currently testing some adjustments to his repulsors down in the firing range."

"Thanks!" you call over your shoulder as you head out of the room.

You walk into the firing range just as Tony lets loose another blast with the suit's signature _wheeee-thoom_.

He mumbles some science jargon under his breath before opening up the paneling on his gauntlet to make more adjustments with a small screwdriver. You clear your throat, causing Tony to jump slightly and turn towards you with a startled expression.

"Oh, good, it's just you." He relaxes a little. "Clint had been trying to peg me with that stupid Nerf Rebel bow all day. Shouldn't have bought it in the first place, but temptation called and I just had to replace his real bow with it. Worst mistake of my life." He shakes his head and makes a few more adjustments before giving you his full attention. "Ok, so judging from your party pooper expression, you're not here to ask me to help you kick some 12-year-old ass on COD." He's stalling. "Assemble time already?" The paneling on his wrist closes with a whir.

"No, sorry. I would appreciate some answers now Tony. What did you need my blood for?"

He sighs. "Thought you'd ask that. Fine, take a seat and I'll… I'll explain everything." He hesitantly motions towards a bench along the side of the room.

You sit on the edge of the seat and Tony stares at you like a deer in headlight, fiddling with the screwdriver, before beginning to pace in front of you. His hands gesture with the forgotten tool and his arms and shoulders are tense as he begins his explanation.

"There is no gentle way to put this, but I just want you to know that I had no idea before I saw that picture, otherwise I would have found you _way_ before Hydra got to you. Or maybe I would have been too scared… I don't know. But she never told me! I had no way of knowing-"

You hold your hands up and interrupt him mid-rant. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up a sec. What didn't you know about? Who didn't tell you what? Why would you have found me before?"

Tony seems as if he's about to be overrun with panic at any second, but he shoves it down, shakily running a hand through his hair and shoving his screwdriver into his pocket as he goes back to pacing.

"As soon as a saw that picture, I knew deep down, but… I had to be sure. That's why I needed your blood. I mean," he laughs incredulously, "you were like a daughter to me before, but-"

"What?" You're so quiet that a mouse's squeak could drown you out, but that single word stops Tony dead in his tracks. He takes a shuddering breath before continuing.

"I met Clara at an electronics convention. She was a weapons designer, just like I used to be. We got down to talking and she had tons of _incredible_ ideas. One thing led to another… and before I knew it, we were heading back to my hotel. Your birthday… it's exactly nine months after that convention, _. That and the bloodwork confirm that I am, in fact, your f... your father." The word feels foreign, causing him to stumble over it. "Your mother and I, we saw each once or twice after that, but I was so scared… I mean, I had never felt that way befo-" He cuts off as he notices that you're trembling with anger.

"Coward." Your eyes narrow in rage. "You abandoned her. You abandoned _us_. How could you do that?" Your voice rises to an angry crescendo. "If you had just _stayed_ , I could have had a _family._ If you had been there, Hydra might never have snatched me in the first place! Because of you, they made me a _monster_!" Your voice breaks and you have to turn away in order to compose yourself. You shake your head and attempt to leave, but Tony grabs your arm.

"_, wait! Just let me expl-" His head snaps back as your fist crashes into his nose. You rush out into the hallway and push past a concerned Dr. Banner. Several minutes later, you push through the main doors and walk out onto the sidewalk in front of Stark Tower. You wander aimlessly down the street, with no destination in mind other than the general notion of "away from Tony so that I can clear my head". Shoving your hands into the pockets of your jeans, your fingers encounter the crinkle of rumpled paper. Pulling it out, you see that it's Steela's address, which you jotted down last week. Well, that seems like as good a destination as any.

"And of course I stopped for the peaches first, but then I came straight here." You sigh and rest your elbows on the table, emotionally exhausted from your tale.

"What an asshole." Steela mutters. "I would love for you to never have to talk to that man again, _. However, you will have to contact the others at some point. You know that I don't believe in god or some other higher power, but I do believe that you were given these abilities for a reason." She gently takes your hand in hers, examining the point on your palm where the lasers exit. "You must use them to protect others and if you aren't going to do that with the Avengers, then you have to do it on your own and you have to tell them that." You sigh, knowing that she's right. You gently squeeze her wrinkled fingers.

"I'll go and talk to them tomorrow, but can I stay here for tonight? I'm not… I'm not ready to go back just yet." She nods and stands, pressing a kiss to your temple before retrieving a blanket and pillow from her room and saying goodnight. You climb onto the couch and curl up under the blanket, exhausted.


	18. Calmed

**(A/N: More review replies at the end of this chapter! I seriously can't get enough of them, so if you guys have anything that you want to say, say it! What do you hate? What do you like? Suggestions, improvements, and ideas are all welcome!)**

Clint grins, moving as silently as he can through the air vent in the direction of the kitchen. When he had woken up this morning, he had been hit with the most brilliant idea for a prank. He pulls himself forward with his elbows, being careful not to jostle the air horn in his hand against the metal walls. When he gets to the vent cover right above the kitchen, he'll jump down, blow the air horn, and scream, "Rise and shine, fuckers!" before running out of the room. He already has a solid escape plan, but he knows that if Nat catches him, no amount of pleading with make her spare his measly, annoying existence. Mentally, he shrugs.

 _Hey, it comes with the territory of being the official prankster in this tower_ , he thinks, resigned to his fate, whatever it may be.

He pulls himself a few more feet and looks down through the slats of the vent cover below him. He can see Steve, Thor, and Nat sitting at the table to his left. Thor is busy tearing through a box of Poptarts while Steve eats his eggs and Nat leans back in her chair, tapping away on a black iPad with an amused half-smile. The absence of Dr. Banner means that there won't be any Hulk action and Clint doesn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved by that fact. He shifts the air horn in his hand and grins as he prepares to drop through the grate, but a voice from below stops him.

"Clint, if you use that air horn, I'm going to have to hurt you and that will really put a damper on our friendship."

He looks down and almost jumps out of his skin when he sees that Nat is looking directly at him. Steve and Thor look at her, confused, then follow her gaze up to the air vent and immediately, comprehension takes over their expressions. Steve sighs and returns to his eggs while Thor looks at Nat and grins.

"How…" Clint says, bewildered. Nat shouldn't have even been able to see him through the vent, let alone hear him.

"Camera to your left," she responds. Clit looks at the vent wall at his side and notices the tiniest lens in existence embedded in the metal. Returning his gaze to Nat, he now sees that her IPad isn't displaying some old SHIELD file or ballerina video, but security footage from around the building, including feed from the air ducts.

He sighs, resigned to the fact that he's been made and pushes the vent cover away. He slides out of the vent head-first, flipping to land in a cat-like crouch. Also like a cat, he does his best to go about his business and pretend as if he had never blundered in the first place.

"Hey, where's _?" he asks, casually setting the air horn on the counter as he pulls a box of cereal out of the cupboard. "She's usually down here way before I am."

Nat frowns, ready to call Clint out on his shit, but realizes that he's right.

"I have no idea. I haven't seen her since yesterday."

"It is the same with I," Thor mumbles around a mouthful of Poptart. "I have not caught sight of her since our last mid-day meal."

"Yeah, me neither," Steve says with a frown.

"Who haven't you guys seen?" Dr. Banner asks as he enters the kitchen.

" _," Clint replies. "None of us have seen her since around noon yesterday."

Bruce's brow creases with worry.

"She pushed past me in the halls around that time. She seemed kind of upset, but at the time, I thought that I might have been imagining it. I had just been heading over to the shooting range to find Tony, but when I got there, he was gone. I haven't seen him since, either."

Tony chose just that moment to walk into the kitchen. Around his eyes are dark circles, as if he had gotten even less sleep last night than usual, and his nose and the area around it is covered in nasty black and purple bruises. He freezes as he notices everyone staring at him.

"What?" he ask defensively.

"What happened to your nose?" Steve asks.

Tony's hand goes to his face self-consciously as he goes to make himself a cup of coffee.

"Accident. I really don't want to talk about it."

Steve frowns. "Would this 'accident' have anything to do with how _ seemed really upset yesterday?"

Tony flinches, freezing before continuing to deliberately pour his drink into a white mug. "As I said, I really _don't_ want to talk about it."

"It did, didn't it?" Steve still looks angry, but now with a bit of disappointment mixed in as well. Tony seemed to have been doing so well with you over the past few months and now it seems as if he's done something to make you upset.

Tony sighs in exasperation and turns towards the others. "Cap, I said I don't-"

"Tony," Nat interrupts before he can even finish his sentence. She aims a glare at him that could level buildings. Tony sighs again, this time in resignation.

"Fine. I might as well start from the beginning."

The smell of oatmeal pervades your senses, causing you to slowly pull yourself from your sleep and open your eyes to the dim, flickering yellow light of the stove hood across the room. You reach your arms above your head, moaning slightly as your muscles stretch.

"Ah, you're finally awake," Steela says from her position by the stove. She's slowly stirring the source of the delicious smell. Reaching over the pot, she flicks the dial for the burner to "off" and spoons a healthy portion into a bowl. You sit up on the couch as she brings it over to you, taking the food and a spoon with a sleep-slurred "thanks".

"You know," you say as you blow on a spoonful of oatmeal, "oatmeal was the first meal that I ate at the tower. I swear, I finished the whole thing in a minute, flat."

"Oh really?" Steela remarks, an amused smile on her face as she fills her own bowl and heads over to the table, turning on the living room light on her way there.

"Really," you reply with a small laugh. "Dr. Banner was the one who gave it to me and I swear, the first thing that I thought when he entered the room was that I definitely wasn't in Hydra anymore because no Hydra agent would be caught dead in gray sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt."

Steela laughs along with you and takes a bite of her oatmeal, but you find yourself unable to eat as worry begins to gnaw at your stomach.

"What am I going to say to them?" you sigh as you stand from the couch with your bowl and move to the seat across from Steela. "I don't want to hurt any of them. The only one that has betrayed my trust is Tony." Steela frowns slightly.

"Didn't you say that he claimed to have not known about you before he saw your mother's picture? From your account, he seemed to be sorry that he had left you alone."

"I don't know, Steela," you sigh warily. "Yeah, he seemed sorry, but that doesn't excuse what he did. If he hadn't left my mother, I wouldn't have been abducted by Hydra. It's his fault that they made me kill all those people."

Steela remains silent for a moment or two, then, "I thought you were better than this." Your head whips up and you stare at Steela, shocked. "Did he hand you right over to Hydra? Did he tell Hydra your location?" You shake your head. "Well, then it isn't his fault! It's no one's fault but Hydra's and you can't use the things that they did to you as an excuse for pushing away the only related family that you have left." She looks at you sternly, pointing her spoon at you as if it were a sword. "Finding this man has been a gift and I know that you're angry with him for leaving you mother, but have you ever thought that maybe she left him, too? That it was a mutual decision to not let it become a serious relationship?"

You sigh as you realize that Steela might have a point. As far as you know, Tony has never let any relationship outside the one that he has with Pepper become serious and there was no reason that his relationship with your mom should have been any different. You fold your hands on the table in front of you, your bowl of oatmeal forgotten, and refuse to make eye contact with Steela. You're ashamed that you had almost ruined one of your only close relationship just because you hadn't looked any farther than the fact that Tony's absence, which couldn't have been avoided, _might_ have led to Hydra finding you. And now Steela seems to be mad at you as well. _Great_.

"Besides," Steela continues, the sudden laughter in her voice causing you to look up, "there are definitely some perks to having a billionaire for a father."

You laugh with her, relieved that she doesn't seem to be holding your stupidity against you. Your appetite has returned in full force, so you quickly finish of your cooling bowl and place it in the sink.

"I'd better get heading back before they mount a full-scale search for me." You give Steela a hug, this one lasting slightly longer than the one you received when you arrived.

"Thanks for knocking some sense into me," you say as you pull away. "I really don't know what I'd do without you."

"Anytime. God knows you need it," she replies with a teasing laugh.

As you exit the apartment building, you make the decision to walk rather than take a cab back to the tower. You feel the need to clear your head and decide on what to say to the others once you get back.

Placing your hands in your pockets, you follow the flow of traffic, allowing it to take you in the direction you need to go as you think.

' _Well, I'll probably have to tell them about the whole Tony's-my-father thing_ ,' you think as you sidestep a couple exiting a store. ' _I'll also have to apologize to Tony for socking him in the nose. That probably didn't help the situation.'_ You internally cringe, remembering how you had lashed out without thought. _'Maybe I should buy him a new tie before I-'_

Suddenly, a chill goes up the back of your neck, causing the hairs to stand on-end and your shoulders to tense ever so slightly.

You're being watched.

You stop to examine a shop window as you project your thoughts up and down the street, searching the sunlight and sound waves for anything suspicious, although this is hard when you don't even know what you're looking for. After you've examined the area for about a minute and found nothing, you decide to move on. ' _You probably just felt someone staring at your scar again_ ,' you mentally sigh.

You're proven wrong about three seconds later.

As you continue down the street, something blindingly fast appears out of the corner of your eye. You whirl around to block it as it heads straight for you, but you're utterly helpless as it slams you against the wall behind you. The back of your head hits the bricks and you struggle to remain conscious as the people around you start screaming and running away from the gigantic, shadowy hand that had just appeared from the shadows underneath a car parked next to the sidewalk.

You try to summon some lasers from your hands in order to break through the blackness, but the shadows knit together and reform just as fast as you can break through them. A nagging horror at the familiarity of your bonds begins to form at the back of your mind, but it's pushed away as you frantically search for an escape. Even these thoughts cease as another mass of shadows slides out from under the vehicle, not unlike a huge, black anaconda, searching for its prey.

The shadows rise and form into a familiar, smirking female, clothed in a black hydra jumpsuit with dark, spiky hair.

"Hello, Supernova," Abyss says, somehow managing to make your title sound like an insult. "Long time, no see."

"And then she punched me in the nose and left," Tony concludes. He leans back in his chair, which he had collapsed into around the middle of his story, and sighs warily, studying his clasped hands as he waits for the others to start chewing him out.

Instead, the others simply stare at him in shock, attempting to absorb the enormity of his recent discovery.

"So… you have a daughter?" Steve asks, still attempting to wrap his mind around that statement.

"Yes, Cap, I apparently do. What the hell do you think I've been telling for the past fifteen minutes, a bedtime story?" Despite his sharp words, there's no venom behind them, simply mental exhaustion.

"I… I mean, wow, Tony. A kid. This is incredible. What the hell are you going to do?"

"You have to apologize for one," Nat states. Tony seems to be about to protest, but just as quickly deflates, nodding sadly. He had hurt you and he needed to make up for that.

"What the hell am I going to say to her? First I didn't trust her, then I _attacked_ her. My own kid! Did I mention the abandonment? God, I've turned into…" He doesn't need to say the words 'my dad' in order for the others to know exactly what he's talking about.

"No, you haven't." Clint contradicts.

"You have been a very good companion to Lady _ as of late, my friend. Do not fret, for I am sure that you will make amends," says Thor.

"What they said," Bruce adds, smiling reassuringly.

"We have to go and find her," Nat says.

Steve nods in agreement. "Tony, you stay here. No offense, but she's probably still pretty mad, so we don't want you scaring her off. I'll go and check her old alley, see if she went back there. Nat, I'll give you her friend Steela's address and you can check with her. The rest of you, spread out around the tower and see if you can find her."

"I don't think that will be necessary," Jarvis interjects from above. "Master Stark, you asked me to notify you if I detected any energies similar to those that the Hydra agent Abyss exhibited. I just detected a major spike around ten blocks from here. I also checked the traffic footage from that area and you really should hurry. She has _."

Tony lets out a streak of curses.

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	19. Chained

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"Hello, Supernova," Abyss greets you with a sharp sneer. Once again, something about her seems unnervingly familiar and it continues to bother you. "Long time, no see."

"Sorry if I can't say I've missed you," you reply, still struggling against the liquid-shadow hand holding you up against a brick wall. The screams of pedestrians running down the street provide a background for your conversation. "Hey, didn't we throw you out of a twenty-something story window? Are you such a failure that you can't even manage to die properly?"

She shrugs. "If you wanted me to die, you didn't try very hard. Oh, and struggling isn't going to help very much. Nothing can break through my shadows. A transport will be here in a few minutes to take you to a new base, where we'll reactivate your chip and get you back on the roster. Why the higher-ups would want an outdated weapon like you is beyond me, but with their most brilliant scientist in Shield's custody, they're taking everything they can get."

A plan beginning to form in your mind as you stop struggling. You just need to keep her occupied long enough to put it into effect. You raise you eyebrows in fake surprise. "Wait, you really don't know about my chip?" Laughing in a seemingly incredulous way, you begin to gather your focus. "You and Hydra are in for a big surprise. I mean, wow! Your tech department is even more incompetent than I thought it was."

Abyss' eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What do you mean? Answer me!" She begins to get angry and you hope that the rage is enough to distract her from the way in which your eyes are seeming to glow. The last time you tried this, you almost blinded yourself, so you'll have to be incredibly careful.

You chuckle mockingly. "Sorry, it's just that you have it all wrong. But hey, I got it wrong, too, when I first woke up in the tower. It's an easy mistake to make." Almost ready. "Hey, by the way, you look super familiar. Have we met, you know, before you tried to kill my friends?"

She ignores your question. "How am I wrong?" Abyss snarls. "Tell me! Or I'll crush you like a twig!" The hand tightens around you and you decide that it's time to end this.

You pretend to panic slightly, your eyes opening wide. "Fine! Fine! Sheesh, I'll tell you. The Avengers didn't disable the chip." You suddenly drop the act, fixing Abyss with your, unbeknownst to her, deadly gaze. "They removed it. I'm free."

You let go of the light that has been building in your eyes and it slams into Abyss, breaking her concentration. When Hydra had forced your mutation, your powers had manifested themselves in the ability to control light and sound. Part of that power was controlling the light and sound in the world around you, but another part was controlling the light within you. You don't know where this light comes from, but it's what comes out of your palms when you summon lasers. The light naturally travels down to your hands, but all it takes is some concentration to get it to exit through a different outlet, such as your eyes. The result is exactly what you had hoped for.

In a flash, Abyss is thrown backwards through the air. She slams into the car that she had been under a few minutes earlier, crumpling the metal as if it were paper.

The black hand that had been holding you captive seems to become less solid, the edges blurring and blending into the air around them like watercolors, and you fall to the ground below. The jarring impact disorients you for a moment, allowing Abyss to rise. One look at her face, which is twisted with rage, lets you know that she isn't going to play the waiting game anymore. You've damaged her pride, which is exactly what you meant to do, and now she's going to make you pay for it.

 _Check please_ , is your only thought before the hand reforms, snatches you off the pavement, and throws you into the middle of traffic. You land on your side, skidding a few feet before coming to rest on the yellow lines in the middle of the road. Your jacket protects you from some serious road rash, but you still find yourself wishing that you had thought to bring your shock-absorbing, armor-plated suit.

Brakes squeal and tires grind against the pavement as cars swerve to avoid you and when you get to your feet, you miraculously find yourself in the center of a ring of wrecked cars. Up and down the street, people are stepping out of their vehicles to see what's going on. You're about to yell for them to run, but the effort proves unnecessary when Abyss appears over the cars to your right, riding the crest of a dark wave, like a demonic surfer. People begin to run away and scream as she approaches, providing a very nice beacon for the Avengers to flock to. You hope that they'll be here soon because you aren't sure that you'll be able to hold her off for very long.

Before Abyss can crash down on top of you, you sonic scream at her, blasting her off the top of her wave and slamming her into the brickwork above one of the stores that line the road. Before you can pursue her, she melts into the shadows. You turn slowly, watching your surroundings warily, aware that she could be anywhere now. Even when she starts to taunt you, you can't pinpoint her voice.

"Poor little _, all alone, with no one to help her. All of your friends _combined_ ," she spits the word out as if it were a piece of rotten fruit, "couldn't stop me the last time we fought. How do you expect to beat me without their help?"

You see a shadow of movement in a wheel hub to your left. You strike, firing a laser from your palm, but Abyss has already moved on to the next shadow.

"I defeated you last time, remember? Now how 'bout you stop cowering in the shadows and come out so that I can do it again?" You listen carefully for her reply, trying to pinpoint her location.

"You had the element of surprise." Abyss sounds angry now. "It won't happen again, I assure you. By the time the extraction team gets here, you'll be begging for mercy!"

Suddenly, black spikes shoot out from the ring of vehicles, speeding towards you from all sides with no noise to warn of their approach. You hadn't noticed it before, but Abyss' attacks generate no sound at all, almost as if they aren't even there. You jump and twist through the spikes, utilizing every skill that Hydra and the Avengers ever taught you in order to avoid the silent death.

You use your powers to feel the holes in the light around you as the spikes pass through it and just when you think that you've avoided all of them, one clips you from behind, tearing a deep gash in your shoulder. You bite back a curse and stumble to your knees. You struggle to rise again, but your own shadow betrays you, immobilizing your legs. You shoot a few lasers at the freezing nothingness, even attempting to sonic scream it off, but nothing works. Without warning, midnight chains lash out from the shadows on either side of you, wrapping around you and pinning your hands to your sides, leaving you defenseless. You gasp as they hit the wound on your shoulder, sending a shock of pain through your torso.

Abyss steps out of some shadows in front of you, admiring her handiwork.

"Look at you, so helpless." She grins, her smile more shark-like than mirthful. "You're pathetic."

"Yes, yes, I'm completely at your mercy. Can you skip the monologue and just kill me already?" Despite your sarcastic words and (you hope) calm countenance, your heart is racing in fear. The shadows that bind you are too strong to break through. You had hoped that your fear would be strong enough to help you break through them, like your protective instincts had helped you to overcome Tony's cuff the last time that Abyss attacked, but it doesn't seem to be enough. Fear is more of a paralytic than a motivator.

"I wish I could," Abyss says with a shrug, "but unfortunately, I have orders to keep you alive. However," a hard, cruel look takes over her face, "that doesn't mean that I can't leave you with a little parting gift."

Your brain only has enough time to register how sinister that statement sounded before a black blade appears in her hand. The hilt and grip don't appear to be completely solidified as whips of shadow curl around Abyss's fingers. The blade, however, is a completely different story. It looks exactly like a picture of an obsidian ceremonial blade that you once saw outside a museum, except the facets of the blade are incapable of reflecting light like the black volcanic glass would. Its edges are wickedly sharp and you have no doubt in your mind that they could cut through anything.

Before you can even register the movement, Abyss has slashed upwards, droplets of crimson blood trailing after the blade. Then the pain hits you. It feels as if a rivulet of lava has made its way from the top of your right cheek all the way down to the corner of your mouth, perfectly mirroring the scar on the left side of your face.

"There! Just like old times," Abyss laughs maniacally over your pain filled scream. The blade dissolves into the shadows of her sleeve as she admires her handiwork. "You're at least symmetrical now. It was bugging me before."

"I've never heard of an OCD villain," you say weakly, trying to sound brave, but failing as you try to hold back your sobs. Every time the still-bleeding wound in your shoulder rubs against the chains, it sends another shock wave through your body, and now it feels as if the entire right side of your face is on fire. "What do you mean, 'just like old times'? I'm pretty sure you've never done this to me before today."

"Wow, you really don't recognize me, do you?" She barks out a laugh, causing you to flinch, then wince as you jar your shoulder. Abyss notices and chuckles again, her eyes growing hard with loathing. "You're just as weak as you were in the orphanage."

Your eyes widen as you finally recognize her. The fact that you haven't before now makes you feel like a complete idiot. Sure, her hair and clothes are different and she's a bit older, but the old hate and resentment are still present in her eyes. You'd seen that expression a thousand times, whenever she would sick her groupies on you or go after you herself. You lived in terror of that expression for sixteen long years.

"Sydney," you whisper.

Your old tormentor grins. "Finally! And here I was thinking that you had gone braindead."

Your anger starts to slowly build but it's still not enough to battle the fear coursing through your veins.

"How did Hydra find you? Was it their X Gene detector?" you ask. You can't have more than a minute until Sydney's extraction team gets here and you're starting to panic, as if you weren't scared enough before. Tony, Steve, and the others should have heard about the disturbance by now. A shadowy fist appearing out of nowhere and attacking a seemingly innocent girl tends to turn some heads, after all. You feel as if you've been in these chains for hours, despite the fact that it's only been one or two minutes.

Sydney shakes her head, her maniacal grin disappearing in an instant only to be replaced by a look so serious, it forces you to wonder if you had only imagined the expression of crazed joy that used to be there.

"No. You're the reason they found me. I really should be thanking you, though. I've been having the best time of my life." Her creepy smile returns in full force. Yep, this girl is _definitely_ bat-shit crazy. "I assume that you remember where they sent me after you told the headmistress about our little spat?" she says.

 _Little spat? You tried to_ kill _me_ , you think as blood courses down your cheek, but you nod. You try to concentrate on breaking the black chains holding you in place, but your energy reserves are depleted after your last escape act. All you can do is sit tight and hope that the others will come soon.

"Yeah, well it turns out that that facility was run by Hydra. Most of those kids become Hydra agents when they're old enough, but every once in a while a lucky mutant comes through their doors. Some of them end up needing the chip, but others, like yours truly, join the ranks willingly. Hydra gave me powers that I had never even imagined before." She summons a ball of sharp, spiky shadows into her palm and calmly examines it. "They made me more powerful than you could even imagine." She squashes the shadows, allowing them to dissipate. "Your friends won't stand a chance when we finally come for them," she gloats as she grins down at you.

Your protective instincts kick in. You will _not_ allow this bitch to touch your family ever again. Suddenly, an idea hits you that is so simple, you feel like kicking yourself right in your bleeding face. How could you not have thought of this before? God, you must be the stupidest superhero on the face of the planet!

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Sydney asks. "Don't you want to hear about how I'll destroy your little friends?"

You don't answer, opting instead to simply glare at her. You'll need all of your concentration to pull this off.

"Fine." She shrugs. "I'll tell you anyways. First, I think I'll peel that annoying metal man like a grape."

You focus on a point in the air, directly in front of Sydney's nose.

"Then, I'll break your patriotic friend's shield, and maybe even his body, in half."

You briefly wonder if this will even work. Sydney might be expecting another attempt at escape.

"Hmm, I wonder what Hydra will think of putting a chip in the archer's brain? He would certainly make an excellent weap-"

She doesn't even finish the word as a mighty flash appears right in front of her face, paired with a sharp _BANG_. She stumbles back, temporarily blinded and deaf. Your bonds weaken, just as they did before, and you stumble to your feet. Ignoring your half-asleep limbs, you scramble over a dented Prius and take off down the street, zig-zagging between abandoned vehicles. Every step jars your wounds, making you wince and gasp in pain. You've turned the corner and are halfway to the next intersection when something slams into the middle of your back. You fall to the ground and just manage to catch yourself with your outstretched hands, scraping them in the process. Looking towards the end of the street, you see several bystanders looking on in horror

"Run!" you yell, gesturing wildly for them to get away. "Alert the Avengers! Tell them Supernova is-"

You're cut off as chains suddenly encircle your arms and torso, jerking you from the ground to hang in the air. A gag quickly encircles your mouth, cutting off any further cries for help or pain-filled screams.

Sydney steps from the shadow of a tree in front of you, her features twisted with rage.

"I have had enough out of you, girl," she snarls. "The next time you try to escape," she summons another pitch black blade and holds it in front of your face, causing you to flinch, "it will not go so well for-" A high-pitched whistle is all the warning she gets before a beam of light knocks her diagonally across the sidewalk, right into a particularly dirty alley on your left. You hear a sharp clang, as if she landed in a dumpster. Unfortunately, your bonds don't dissipate like the last two times Abyss was attacked, but you're too distracted to really worry at the moment.

In the middle of the street, a familiar red and gold figure swoops out of the sky and stops to hover over the street. Farther down, a sleek, black quin jet drops off three more figures, who all begin to run towards you and the metal man in front of you. The flying figure raises his hands towards the alley that Abyss disappeared into, glowing palms outstretched in warning.

"Don't you _ever_ touch my daughter again!" Tony yells. You've never felt more relieved to see someone in your entire life.

 **Just so you guys know, I'm currently writing another x-reader, but this one's a one shot. I'm not going to tell you any details yet, but I'd just like to ask you all a question... Are any of you members or former members of a colorguard or marching band?**


	20. Rescued

**(A/N: I just read "Standard Procedure" by Oceanbreeze7 on (check it out: s/9070255/1/Standard-Procedure), so I was inspired to give Jarvis a bit more emotion in this chapter. I've always loved the idea that Tony's creations have human emotions, feelings, questions, and thought processes due to the fact that Tony treats them as if they were human. In the Iron Man movies, Dummy especially showed emotion that shouldn't have been capable of simple robots. The same goes for Jarvis and even Friday in post-Age of Ultron movies. Make sure to check out Oceanbreeze7's story because it is REALLY worth the read!)**

The worry is painfully evident in Jarvis' voice as he says the three simple words that send Tony's world spiraling into chaos.

"She has _."

Tony lets out a veritable river of curses, each more imaginative and colorful than the next.

Steve winces again and again as each one hits his ears, as if they physically pain him. "Stark, enough! Suit up and meet me at the jet, now!" he barks urgently as he runs off towards his own room to don his suit and grab his shield. He practically sprints to the elevator and then out onto the roof. Tony, Thor, and Bruce are already there, waiting beside the Quin jet. As Steve quickly approached them, the doors behind him ding open and Nat and Clint quickly follow him towards the others.

Nat casually, but efficiently, checks the number of bullets in her guns as she climbs up the ramp after the others into the jet. _Abyss is about to regret ever joining Hydra_ , she thinks as she slides into a seat along the wall behind the cockpit. The straightforward thought isn't a promise. Those can be broken. It isn't a resolution or a decision or a premonition. It is a fact, clear and simple.

Clint checks his quiver as he drops into the seat beside her. He examines each shaft, every arrowhead, imagining how it will feel to see them rip through Abyss or explode around her. _One arrow for every hair that she's harmed on _'s head_ , he promises. He's much more optimistic about promises than Nat.

Thor leans against the wall that separates the passenger compartment from the cockpit and sets his hammer by his feet. He can remember the first words that he ever heard you say: 'They were controlling me! I don't know when the chip will kick in again, but you have to stop me!' Even when you were in Hydra's grip, you were trying to save lives. _You will save lives yet, Lady __ , he thinks, wishing that he could send some comfort your way, some reassurance that help is coming, no matter what stands in its way.

Bruce collapses into a seat across from Nat and Clint, concentrating so hard on reining in his rage that he's practically shaking. The stuff boils in his veins, tightening his chest and squeezing his lungs, urging him to just let go and roar as the Hulk takes over his body. But he can't do that. He won't. _Not until you're needed_ , he admonishes the monster. He lets out a shaky breath, faintly remembering bits and pieces of when you had fought alongside and against the Hulk. When you had fought him in the Hydra base, Bruce sensed that the not-so-jolly giant had a decent measure of respect for you. He was impressed by your fighting and when he was released once more, several months later, to find you fighting by his side, his respect had only grown. That, combined with Bruce's fondness of you and his protective instincts, can only eventually lead to a very pissed off Hulk punching Abyss half-way across New York. Bruce addresses his other personality, thinking, _Don't worry. You'll get your chance at revenge_. Bruce doesn't doubt that the Hulk will be needed in the fight against Abyss sooner rather than later.

Steve marches into the cockpit with a soldier's grace, seating himself in the pilot's chair before realizing that they have an AI to control the jet.

"Jarvis, get us in the air, please. _Quickly_ ," he urges.

"I am always quick, sir," the program replies.

The super soldier huffs out a weary breath, leaning against an armrest and running a hand over his face as he forms a plan. He goes over every detail, no matter how small. Everyone will need to be in a position where they can fight to their optimum potential if they are to defeat Abyss. _I am_ not _losing another comrade to Hydra_ , he resolves, standing and slinging his shield onto his back as the memory of his last encounter with Bucky flashes painfully through his mind. _Don't worry, _. We're coming._

Tony paces in the main compartment of the jet, his armor whirling and his boots clanking on the floor as he walks back and forth in worry, his arms crossed over his chest. If he hadn't been such an idiot, if he had broken it to you in a slightly more tactful manner, you might have not fled the tower and gotten captured by the organization that had forced you to commit countless horrors over two whole years of your life.

"I'm so sorry," he murmurs, unaware of the fact that he had spoken out loud. The others hear him, but opt to not mention it as Tony continues to pace. The sound of him clunking back and forth is setting them all on edge, but none of them want to say anything and risk stressing him out even more. Finally, it's Jarvis that stops him.

"Sir, it is my duty to inform you that pacing back and forth in such a manner will only wear down the batteries of the suit. Also, your pulse rate and stress levels are rising. I would suggest taking a seat until you arrive at Miss _'s location. Maybe reviewing a course of action with Captain Rodgers will help."

Tony sighs, knowing that Jarvis is right. "Sir, yes, sir," he replies. The others don't fail to notice the slightly fond edge to the otherwise sarcastic and stressed tone. Tony seats himself next to his science bro as Steve enters from the cockpit, looking more his age that Tony has ever seen before.

Steve lets out a huff of air, running his hand through his hair and letting it drop to his side as everyone trains their eyes on him, awaiting his instructions.

Finally, Steve looks up, meeting everyone's eyes before straightening, his weariness falling away to be replaced with the leadership that they all need. The leadership that _you_ need.

"Alright, here's what's going to happen," Steve begins as a holographic map of your location appears in front of him. "Clint, we're going to stay in stealth mode and drop you off on this rooftop here." He points to the building across from where you are currently chained. "Try to snipe Abyss before she knows that you're there. Even if you don't incapacitate her right off the bat, you can still help with the fight in the long haul and keep an eye out for any other Hydra thugs that might try and interrupt. Make sure to watch your six. Once Abyss knows that you're there, she'll probably try to come at you from behind and surprise you."

Clint gives a brief nod, his eyes steely with determination.

"Nat, Tony, and Thor, you'll be with me. We'll try and divert Abyss' attention away from _. She might be able to free herself if Abyss isn't constantly focused on her. If she can't, then the only way we'll ever free her will be by defeating Abyss, so don't hold back even the slightest bit. I want _ home as fast as humanely, or godly," he glances at Thor, "possible."

Everyone nods and murmurs in agreement. They can't wait to get you home, where you'll once again be safe from Hydra's clutches.

Finally, Steve turns to Bruce. "I don't want to send the Hulk in unless it is absolutely necessary. If we need you, we'll com you with a code green. Until then, I want you to stay on the jet."

Bruce nods, hopeful that the other guy won't be needed, but painfully aware of the fact that he most definitely will.

They all contemplate the hologram in front of them, imagining you chained on the sidewalk, struggling desperately to be free. The thought is enough to energize them all and harden even further their solid determination to free you.

Suddenly, the map changes, morphing into something like a radar display with the quin jet flying in the middle. A few hundred yards to their right, another jet is shown on a course parallel to their own, although this one is slightly more transparent and it flickers every couple of seconds.

"Sir, I've detected another quin jet in the area," Jarvis states, his voice coming from all around them. "It's cloaking has been activated, so it is very difficult to detect it and it isn't visible to the naked eye. It seems to be on a similar course to ours."

Steve frowns. "Since Shield's disbanded, I doubt that it's one of theirs. It's probably Hydra, but we should be sure before we do anything. Jarvis," he addresses the ceiling, "try to make contact and ask for identification, please."

"I am making contact now, sir."

They all wait tensely for the mystery ship's reply. Clint twirls an arrow between his fingers. Bruce breathes deeply, still attempting to keep his stress, worry, and rage under control. Tony rests his armored elbows on his armored knees and stares at the floor, his fingers clasped tightly in a quiet show of impatience.

Finally, Jarvis speaks, a note of urgency coloring his voice. "Sir, they've denied my request and are now banking to face us. It is a logical possibility that- "

"They're about to attack," Tony finishes, standing quickly and slamming his faceplate down, ready for battle.

Steve jumps into the pilot seat, slamming the button that will open the ramp.

"Tony, go!" he yells. "Everyone else, strap yourselves in, now!" Everyone rushes to comply as Tony jumps out of the jet into the wind, his repulsors directing him to a course parallel with the jet.

"Jarvis, show me the money!" he yells as he shoots through the air.

A filter pops up in front of him, and a jet that is almost identical to their own appears out of nowhere a few hundred yards to his right. It is currently banking to the left in an attempt to put the Avenger's jet in its sights.

"Now, now, we can't have that, can we?" Tony mutters as he accelerates towards the invisible threat, firing off several repulsor blasts as he nears it. The jet rolls to the right, gracefully avoiding the beams of light as they streak past.

Back on the jet, Steve takes control, attempting to lock the weapon systems onto the threat. The other jet rolls, avoiding Tony's attack. Steve finally manages to catch it in his crosshairs and fires, three heat-seeking missiles heading straight towards the Hydra vehicle. The Jet twists and turns through the air, managing to shoot down two of the missiles before the third grazes it, blowing off a section of paneling and making it far easier to track the planes movements as the cloaking fails. The jet is now fully visible as is banks, attempting to put the Avenger's in its own crosshairs. Bruce clutches at his harness, forcing himself to focus on calm thoughts and desperately trying to keep the Hulk under control as Steve engages evasive maneuvers, flying up and over the other jet

Tony fires another round of missiles, these ones small and compact, like a swarm of angry hornets. Most of them miss, but two fly straight into the cockpit windows, exploding in the pilot's face. The jet pulls up for a second before stalling, falling screaming back to earth. Thankfully, it lands on top of an abandoned warehouse instead of an apartment complex, caving in the roof and collapsing the walls.

Tony follows it down, shooting between the jagged bricks and metal beams before reversing and coming to a stop. He hovers in the air above the wreckage as he scans for life. Once he's sure that nothing's moving inside, he quickly swoops down, tearing off a section of panel that's charred and blackened from where their missile had grazed it before looking into the wreaked interior.

His voice crackles over the coms. "They're all dead, six in all, most definitely Hydra. Only they would wear such hideous black leather outfits."

"We'd better hurry," Steve replies, "We have no idea how many other reinforcement Abyss might have called in. We'll stay in the jet while you fly behind."

"Go. I'll catch up. Jarvis just told me that Sergeant Holly arrived outside the warehouse. I'll fill her in and catch up."

Steve nods despite the fact the Tony can't see him and opens the throttle, shooting towards your location as fast as he can.

"Just hurry."

"Don't worry, Capsicle. I failed once. I'm not going to let her down again," Tony replies as he flies back up out of the building before landing with a clank in front of the Sergeant as she slides out of her cruiser.

She gets right down to business. "What's going on, Stark?"

Tony isn't in any mode for banter either as he responds. "Had a short dog fight with a Hydra jet, which is what's in the warehouse behind me, with six dead Hydra agents inside. I have to leave now. A seventh agent, this one with mutant powers, is holding my… is holding Supernova hostage across town. We suspect that this jet was going to rendezvous with them. We could use your help to keep the civilians off the streets if a fight should start, which it probably will."

The Sergeant nods, turning sharply to her fellow officers, who had stepped out of the other three vehicles.

"Jones, you and Cooper stay here with the crash. Keep any civilians out. I'll radio the precinct to send another car. The rest of you, follow me. You got an address, Stark?" she asks, turning back to Tony.

He nods, quickly telling them the approximate address.

"Hurry," he says shortly before taking off, trusting them to follow him as his thrusters carry him as fast as they can go. He overtakes the jet just as it's dropping Clint off. Glancing down at the street below, his heart comes screeching to a painful stop, his breath leaving him as he sees you dangling from black chains under an awning on the sidewalk opposite him. His heart restarts when he sees Abyss waving a matching black blade under your nose. A rage more powerful than any he had ever known before fills his lungs, heart, and brain, freezing time and squeezing his vitals until he's sure that they'll pop. In a millisecond, he's swooping towards them, firing off a blast of energy which knocks Abyss into a nearby alleyway, bouncing her off a dumpster and out of sight.

"Don't you _ever_ touch my daughter again!" he shouts, letting only a portion of his anger out through his words as he sees the others in the corner of his display, running down the street towards him. He quickly glances at you, noting the bleeding gashes on your right cheek and left shoulder with worry and anger as he gives you what he hopes is a calming nod.

"You okay, _?" Steve asks, alarmed by the amount of blood. Thor and Natasha both give you worried glances as well before turning their attention back to the alley next to you.

You nod back, unable to speak as tears stream down your face, mixing with your blood as you see your father and the rest of your family, all gathered there to rescue you. You don't have to be as strong anymore. You're one step closer to being safe. You'll take whatever you can get to keep you going.

The others begin to advance towards you when darkness explodes out of the alley next to you. Tony flies across the street, crashing into a wall and cracking it under his weight before falling with a clang and several curses to the pavement. Nat and Steve are both pushed backwards and slammed into car doors, denting the metal as Thor hits the hood of another and flies up and over, falling out of sight.

Sydney emerges from the alley, examining the destruction that she had caused with curiosity before looking at Tony with confusion as he groans and curses, pushing himself up from the cracked sidewalk.

"Did you just say 'daughter'?"

 **(A/N: Just a heads up: the next chapter will be the final one in this series! When I first started writing this** **over a year ago** **, I had absolutely no idea how big it would become. At first, I thought that it would only be five chapters at the most, and now we're at twenty! I wanted to thank all of you for favoriteing, following, and reviewing my first attempt at writing. My next story is going to be another Avengers x-reader, but this one is going to be a one-shot. I've already written ten pages of it, so expect it to be published in the next couple of weeks. I'll also try and post the final chapter of this story either next week or the week after that. Until then, I wish you all smooth sailing and clear skies!**

 **AinsleyWright: Thanks! It's okay if you haven't been in either of them, I was just curious. :)**

 **AlwaysChillin98: I hope that this has lived up to your expectations! :D**

 **Guest: Sir, yes, sir!**

 **WaffleDragon: YAY! And no, I don't think that you spelled that right, either. XD**


	21. Assembled

**(A/N: Okay, here it is! The final chapter! I just wanted to thank you all for the amazing support that you've been giving me over the past few months and for sticking with this story until the very end. I have a lot of ideas for what I'm going to write next, but I'm thinking of starting with a T'Challa x-reader that I'd promise I'd write for my friend. After that, I have no idea. I noticed that this site is sorely lacking in good Percy Jackson fics, so I might start there. If anyone has any ideas, shoot! And now, on with the show!)**

 **(P.S. Oh! I also replied to some reviews, so be sure to check out the end of the chapter!)**

Right now, your world can be boiled down to two things: pain and worry. You watch as your friends are toppled like bowling pins, unable to lift a hand or shoot a laser to help them. All you can do is dangle under your awning, trapped in a cocoon of black chains and a matching gag that completely silences the screams and curses that you attempt to throw at Abyss. You try to struggle against your bonds, but the pain that forks from the wounds on your shoulder and face force you to still.

"Did you just say 'daughter'?"

Abyss turns to stare at you incredulously. "You're his _daughter_?" she asks, jabbing a thumb at Tony, who has now managed to push himself to his feet. Suddenly, she laughs, swinging from confusion to amusement in under a second. "Well, the techs back at Hydra will get a kick out of this. Not only will we be regaining a weapon today, but we'll also be attaining leverage against the great Tony Stark! If I were to get paid for this job, I would say that I deserve a raise."

She turns towards Tony, who's now standing on the other side of the street, his expressionless helmet staring back at Abyss as she taunts him.

"What's the matter, Stark? Cat got your tongue?" Abyss sneers at him, snorting in derision, but she can't hear what you hear. Tony's breath is slow and controlled. Too controlled, seeing as his heart is beating a mile a minute, thundering like a freight train in his chest. His gloves creak and whir as his fists clench tight at his sides. All of these sounds could tell you exactly what Tony's thinking, but it's the light from his visor display illuminating his hidden expression that confirms your suspicions beyond any doubt.

Iron Man is _pissed_.

In the blink of an eye, he's raised his hands, his palms aimed directly at Abyss' head, and fires. In half that time, Abyss has collapsed into the dark sidewalk cracks, easily escaping the repulsor blast as it zips through the space that her smirking face had once occupied. The others, who have also managed to pick themselves up, glance around warily.

"Touchy, touchy," you hear her laugh from somewhere to your right. "Who knew that the narcissist playboy billionaire could get so worked up over one little weapon?"

Once again, you alone know that Abyss has made a grave misjudgment. From you suspended position, you can hear Tony conversing with Jarvis within his helmet.

"Where?" Tony asks, using as little time as possible. The clipped question once again shows you just how wrathful Tony is at that moment. If you weren't so terrified and worried, you probably would be touched.

"There, sir." The AI's tone is just as clipped and angry as his creator's as he marks Abyss' location on Tony's display. Without hesitation, Tony points his palm at the underside of a lamp post that's about twenty feet to your left and fires. You hear Abyss let out an involuntary cry of pain as she falls out of the shadows and onto the pavement below. Immediately, she's back on her feet, grinning manically as she glares at Tony in rage.

"Oh, now that wasn't nice at all," she laughs, her voice sharp and hateful. Before she can raise a finger against your friends, she's forced to hastily erect a shadow wall, stopping the arrow that would have landed right between her eyes.

Your head whips up as you search the buildings opposite you, looking for your favorite archer. You immediately spy him from his kneeling position on the building directly across the street from you. His satisfied smirk confuses you for a moment, but understanding quickly dawns on you and you turn to look at Abyss. She dissolves the black wall and allows the arrow to fall to the ground.

"Big mistake," she growls, her teeth bared.

She's so angry that she doesn't even glance at it as she raises her hand towards Clint, preparing to attack and completely failing to notice the abnormal appearance of the projectile. This is the real mistake, as the arrow chooses that moment to explode in her face.

Across the street, Tony's thrusters propel him into the air and shoot him towards Abyss as she's thrown backwards onto the ground. The others charge along with him, each determined and fierce. Abyss thrusts her hand up from where she's sprawled on the ground, snarling as she sends another wave of black energy to knock your friends to the ground. She leaps after it, forming whipping tentacles from her shadow and summoning black spectral knives into her hands. Before you can blink, your friends are fighting for their lives.

Steve deflects a tentacle with his shield, protecting Nat's back as she parries Abyss' knives with her own.

A few feet away, Thor and Tony are fighting back to back, desperately trying to beat back the sinuous shadows that threaten to overwhelm them. You watch as Thor attempts to summon lightning, only to abandon the effort as he's forced to smash a tentacle that attempts to stab Tony in the back.

Across the street, Clint fires arrow after arrow down into the fight, carefully avoiding his comrades. You send thanks to every deity that's listening for making Abyss so distracted that she is unable to control any shadows that are more than a few yards away. If she could, she surely would have taken a shot at the archer by now.

In fact, while you had been oblivious to them before, you now notice that the shadows that bind you are becoming weaker and weaker as Abyss becomes increasingly distracted by the fight. The chains become even more fluid as you stare at them, melting like jello as they slowly lose their shape and form. You slowly slip through them as gravity pulls you through their now insubstantial hold, sliding towards the pavement. Finally, your feet touch the ground and you collapse as what's left of the chains disappears into thin air. The gag around your mouth has somehow remained, maybe due to the fact that it's smaller and easier to maintain. You clutch at it, wincing as you irritate your wounds, but the freezing shadows won't budge. You try to sonic scream in frustration and the weakened shadows shatter, the pieces melting into the cracks in the sidewalk.

Now that you're finally free, you attempt to rise to your feet, only to have them collapse under you. You've lost too much blood and your wounds are finally taking their toll on you. You helplessly watch from your crumpled position on the pavement as Nat gets knocked down the street, skidding along the pavement and slamming into the wheel of a Subaru. You hear Steve yelling "Code green!" as Abyss laughs maniacally and sirens sound in the distance.

You glance down the street to see police setting up barricades, urging pedestrians to move away as the onlookers watch in horrified shock. You turn back to the fight just in time to see Steve jump into the air and tuck himself behind his shield before being shot down the street like a cannon ball by an explosion of black energy. A few feet away, Tony yells as a shadow wraps around his foot and whips him into the ground as if he weighed no more than sack of dirty laundry. Thor, his back now unprotected, is easily subdued, his arm bent back by black tentacles until he is forced to drop Mjolnir in pain. Natasha, who had valiantly picked herself up and charged Abyss, is smacked to the ground and wrapped in black ropes. The others get the same treatment, matching black gags appearing over their mouths as Abyss grins at them in evil glee, her skin completely devoid of sweat and her posture lacking exhaustion. It's as if fighting four Avengers one-on-one and being sniped at by a fifth hadn't bothered her in the slightest.

You hear a soft, high-pitched whistle and almost flinch as Abyss' arm shoots up and deftly plucks Clint's arrow out of the air. This one is unfortunately ordinary and before you can hope that the archer has some explosive arrows up his sleeve, Abyss has summoned her shadows and bound the poor man, causing him to fall to the roof and out of sight.

The scene is eerily familiar. Your friends are bound and struggling, Abyss is grinning crazily down at them, and you are powerless to stop her from killing them.

Suddenly, your vision turns red. You would watch the world _burn_ before you let this crazy bitch lay a single finger on your family. In a fit of rage and protective instinct, you somehow manage to get your feet under you and stand, your sight locked onto Abyss as she raises her hand, pointing her palm straight at Tony. She's threatening the life of your father.

Big mistake.

She begins to monologue, but your brain doesn't register a single word as you mirror her, your palm aimed directly at her head. The world stills and your mind empties as you feel the familiar sensation of light building in your chest. It starts in the center, just behind your sternum, warming you as it spreads along your ribs, up to your shoulder and builds, the pressure becoming greater and greater as you lock onto Abyss' crazy eyes, her sharp features, her spiky hair. You pour all of your concentration into hitting that target, into not missing. You focus on every memory, ever emotion that you ever felt when you were with the Avengers. You remember the good, the bad, the amazing, the incredible, and the downright shitty. You pool every memory, the moment you received your suit, your fight with them at your old Hydra base, the time that you visited your old alley, even the day that Tony fired at you in the gym, and release the pressure. The light shoots down your arm, exiting your palm and speeding towards Abyss like an arrow from Apollo's bow, the perfect shot.

Or it would have been, if Abyss hadn't chosen that very moment to look up.

Faster than the flap of a humming bird's wings, the shadows at Abyss' feet shoot up, absorbing your arrow and protecting their master before melting once more into the ground. Her expression morphs into distilled murder as she stares at you in fury. At her feet, your friends thrash and struggle, unable to come to your aid as you collapse to your knees, your strength completely spent.

Abyss' arm rises, her palm slowly and deliberately turned to face you as she lines up her shot.

"Hydra wanted you alive," Abyss states, her voice tight and a bit crazed. "They didn't say intact. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you're a bit broken." She lets out a little laugh, her features twisting into a crazed grin. "After all, it isn't like they haven't fixed assets before. I mean, look at that thing that used to be Sergeant James Ba-"

Her rant is interrupted as a roaring green blur jumps from a building across the street, cracking the pavement as it lands. The Hulk roars again, pounding the ground before rushing the surprised Abyss and punching her square in the face. She flies back along the road and lands on top of a Volkswagen Beetle, caving in the roof as if it were tin foil. You can hear her groan softly, but judging by her breathing and heartrate, she'll be knocked out for quite a while. The Hulk grunts as he sneers at the unconscious villain in distain.

"Puny mutant," he growls as the ropes and gags disappear from your friends.

As soon as Tony's free he stumbles to his feet and fires his thrusters, propelling himself towards you with the others not far behind. You even see Clint rappelling down the face of his building with the rope from one of his grappling arrows, but you know that they won't make it in time. You're already slumping to the ground as Tony falls to his knees next to you, catching your head before it hits the ground. The last thing you see before slipping into darkness is the worried faces of your family peering into your swiftly closing eyes.

* * *

You're swimming in darkness. Actually, floating might be a better word for it. You don't feel any pain. Or anything else, for that matter. You don't feel as if you're in your body and none of your senses seem to be working, but you don't panic. You feel relaxed, safe, like when you fall asleep on the couch in the middle of movie night, surrounded by your friends. You get the feeling that you have been here for hours, but you've only just become aware of it.

You lazily wonder how you got here. Did you fall asleep on the couch again? Is Clint drawing a mustache on your face at this very moment? Slowly, like water trickling from a tap, your memories of the fight come back to you. That's right, you passed out. Or did you die? Is this what heaven looks like? If this is what the afterlife is like, you're going to have a very boring eternity to look forwards to. But that can't be right. If this is heaven, why do you hurt so much?

It seems as if your wounds from the fight decided to tag along when your memories came strolling home. They aren't as excruciating as before, but you can still feel a throbbing ache where you assume your face and shoulder are. You also feel slightly itchy around where your knees and hands must be. You remember scraping them when you fell in your flight from Abyss, but you hadn't paid any attention to the minor annoyances in the chaos that had unfolded. You can also feel a sore spot that's about the size of a quarter on the inside of your left arm.

You use these irritating reference points to slowly pull yourself back into your body. With some concentration, you can now feel worn, slightly scratchy material covering your body. There's also something puffy cradling your head and several circular objects attached to your chest. You can feel a tube trailing from the sore spot on your arm, almost like… and IV.

 _I'm lying on a hospital bed_ , you realize.

As your senses slowly return, you can hear the steady beep of monitors and… is that snoring?

You slowly peel your eyes open, only to quickly shut them again when they're assaulted by bright sunlight. You steel yourself and pry them open again, squinting against the sun streaming through the window of your sparsely furnished hospital room. You see that someone had thoughtfully turned off what must be very irritating fluorescent lights, but had forgotten to close the blinds.

You attempt to turn your head and see the source of the snoring, but softly groan instead as you realize that _everything hurts_. You have aches and pains in places that you didn't even realize could get aches and pains. Slowly, and with a lot of colorful mental cursing, you manage to turn your head to see that a figure is slumped in the chair beside your bed.

It's Tony.

You laugh softly as you see a line of drool make its way down his chin. He must have been here for at least a few hours. Judging from the angle of the sun, maybe even all night.

"Tony," you call, unable to raise your voice very much. The billionaire snores on. "Tony. Wake up, you ass. You're drooling."

The genius finally jolts away, his eyes fluttering open to stare at you.

"Hey," he mumbles eloquently, "I wasn't sleeping, I was just resting my eyes."

You smile, rolling your eyes. "Sure, and I'm wearing this hospital gown because it's comfortable."

He frowns, straightening in his seat. "Do you want me to get you something else? I can have some cashmere pajamas shipped here in under an hour. Or maybe you'd prefer Chinese silk? Or maybe-"

You shake your head slightly, laughing as you cut him off. "I was kidding, Tony. Everything's fine."

"Well, not everything," he sighs dejectedly as he slumps in his chair. "I'm so sorry, _. None of this would have happened if it weren't for me. If I had just stayed with Clara-"

"Tony," you interject firmly, giving him a stern look as you interrupt him again. "None of this was your fault."

He shakes his head, seemingly desperate to incriminate himself. "But it is! I abandoned you. Hydra got you because of _me_!"

You stare at him, making sure that his full attention is on you before you say a single word. "Tony, I don't blame you."

He seems shocked, his mouth slightly open. "But…"

"No 'but's," you assert. "It isn't your fault. How were you supposed to know that that particular… meet-up would result in a child?" Tony starts to protest, but you quickly cut him off. "And before you try to claim that you should have stayed with my mom anyways, don't bother. You were two consenting adults, you both knew what you were getting into. My mom couldn't keep me, but I made my peace with that a long time ago. I _don't_. _Blame_. _You_." You slump into your pillow, exhausted by your rant.

Tony sighs, laughing a bit. "And here I had an entire speech prepared."

You laugh along with him, relieved that he had dropped the argument. He still doesn't seem entirely convinced, but you have time. You'll eventually prove to him that what happened to you will never be his fault.

Just then, the door to your room opens, revealing a surprised Steve with two coffees in a cardboard carrier. "_," he exclaims, his face splitting into a wide grin. He turns and calls down the hall, "Hey, guys! She's awake."

You hear the tramping of four sets of feet and soon the rest of your friends are filing into your room, taking up positions around your bed.

"We're glad to see you awake, kid," Bruce says. There are a few more worry lines occupying his face than normal, but he seems relieved. "You lost a lot of blood."

You smile at him. "I would have lost more if the other guy hadn't arrived when he did. Tell him thanks for me."

He smiles back. "Already done."

Steve tries to hand you one of the coffees, but you shake your head.

"Give it to Tony. He needs it more."

Tony accepts the drink and takes a long pull. "Anyone who thinks that wine is the drink of the gods is wrong. It's most definitely coffee."

You snort, shaking your head slightly. The others mirror you, rolling their eyes. Clint plucks the cup from Tony's hands and gulps down the rest of the drink. The look of utter betrayal on Tony's face is enough to make all of you burst out laughing. Even Natasha smiles at her partner's antics.

Suddenly, you still. It might be the sedatives making you loopy, but a memory suddenly jumps into your head, making you smile wryly.

"Hey, Stark," you say, looking over at the philanthropist, who is now looking very nervous over your sudden change in mood.

"Yeah?" he asks hesitantly.

"Remember when we first met?"

The superhero is now sweating buckets as he remembers the battle in the loading dock of your old base. He nods.

"Do you remember calling me 'babe'?

He nods again, now confused in addition to worried.

"Yeah, don't ever call me that again. That's just weird." Tony slumps slightly, relieved that you aren't angry, but also mortified as the others break into laughter again.

You look around at the others, smiling contentedly as you listen to them laugh and tease your dad.

Wow… that's a weird thought.

You remember how families used to intrigue you, mostly because you had never had one.

Not anymore.

You're home.

 **(A/N: So, what do you think? I tried to wrap it up as neatly as I could and give you guys the closure that you deserve. God knows I hate it when a story ends on an unsatisfying note. Again, I love hearing from you guys, so review! Well... only if you want to, of course... please? *puppy dog eyes*)**

 **SunSetsOfAnotherWorld: I hope you enjoyed Living Fireworks! I'll try to keep making stories like this. :)**

 **Alexander: XD Yaaassss!**

 **Nerd2000: Thanks! I hope that you liked my one shot! If you every get any ideas for short drabbles in the Supernova universe, feel free to PM me. I'm always open to suggestions. :)**

 **ElvishPhanlockian: Thanks you so much! I hope you enjoyed the other story :)**

 **Guest: Oh my god, thank you so much! You just made my day. :D I hope you enjoyed the final chapter!**


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